


Come With Me If You Want To Live

by rejerito



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-07
Updated: 2013-12-30
Packaged: 2017-12-31 18:36:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 33,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1035041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rejerito/pseuds/rejerito
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arya and Gendry in The Terminator universe</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Hard Landing

**Author's Note:**

  * For [meli_fan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/meli_fan/gifts).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For meli_fan who mentioned on tumblr how cool it would be to have a AxG Terminator!AU.  
> I knew then I was so fucked....
> 
> I really like the Terminator movies (3 NEVER HAPPENED!) but haven't seen them in years. First I was like "Let's marathon-watch 'em!!" but then I was like "Fuck that! Let's see what comes out of this! FUCK YEAH!!", so excuse me if it's not accurate (sometimes it will be on purpose tough).
> 
> I'm kind of excited and scared all at the same time but here it goes...
> 
> **Warnings: "I don't even know what I'm doing..." and "YOLO - I do what I want"**

"Just another day in paradise..." 

Jimmy couldn't help but laugh at his own bad luck as he drew back the flap to enter the small tent hidden in the back alley. That damn cat had found it's way into his home again and eaten the last of the meatballs the nice lady had given him last time. 

She was a nice young thing. A short girl that worked very hard at that Harrenhall Grill. Everyone treated him like dirty scum, like they would get infected with his smelly poverty just by looking at him, but she was always nice to him, always a smile on her face whenever she could give him warm leftovers on her way home from the grill. 

If only his kids could have shown him half the kindness she did... Maybe he wouldn't be all dirty, living in these cold dark streets. But they never gave two shits about their dad. Sold the house and took all the money after their mother died, leaving him to die alone in this world.

Jimmy smoothed out his old bedroll, threw one of the thick coats over himself and prepared to lay down for the night, taking a long sip from the brown liquid in his flask. _'At least the fucking cat hasn't learned to open my whisky. Yet.'_ He winced as the liquid burned its way down his throat, it helped to keep him warm now that the nights were getting colder. 

But what kept him most warm was to think about the lady's smile. _'She has a pretty smile.'_ Jimmy sighed contently, closing his eyes and pulling his coat closer _'But her grey eyes always seem so sad...'_

A deafening blast went off and Jimmy jumped up fully awake, his heart racing wildly. Everything illuminated as if it was bright daylight and the flap of the tent was ripped open with the force of the wind blowing outside. 

Jimmy ignored the scared cat as it came running inside, desperate to seek some kind of refuge. He was too stunned to look away from what he was seeing outside his tent.

There was a round ball of blinding energy just in front of him, with small bolts of electricity seeming to come off of it, and just inside that ball was a... was a... 

"The Mother have mercy of me..." Jimmy whispered holding on tight to the cat.

\--------

Gendry landed with a painfull thud on the hard pavement.

 _'Fuck! So much for carefull planning...'_ He palmed his ribs carefully but nothing seemed to be broken.

He was supposed to land smoothly forming a perfect ball to help absorb the impact of the fall, not sprawled all over like he did, but time-travel was no perfect science. At least the dragon suit had worked, protecting him from the heat of the energy and also worse damage from the hard fall. 

He groaned in pain as he got up, palming himself to make sure he hadn't lost anything along his voyage. His hammer was still slung around his back and the picture was still tucked safely over his heart.

"Are you alright, lad?"

He turned around quickly, hammer in hand by instinct, ready to crush anything endangering his mission, but it was only a dirty scared-looking old man holding an equal scared-looking cat to his chest.

Gendry lowered his hammer. "What day is it?"

"November, 15th." The man looked him up and down as if he was some rare thing to behold. "Nice jacket..." Well, that explained much. Dragon suits were not invented yet, and although people in Gendry's time wear them all the time, people of this era must find them strange with all the shiny black scales.

"What year is it?"

"'What _year_ is it?'" the man scoffed. "You must have hit your head hard, boy." Well, his head did hurt some. "And I thought I was the one seeing crazy things..." That caught Gendry's attention.

"Thing _s_?" he grabbed the old man by his thick coat, the cat hissing angrily at him but refusing to leave his master. "You said _things_. Was there more than one landing?" 

"L-landing?" the man looked half scared, half confused.

"Another energy ball. A bright lightning like mine." Gendry tried to explain.

"Oh. Yes. Yes!" said the man in excitement. "There was another light just before yours! There was a man in it too!"

"Shit!" This was bad. Gendry let go of the man. _He_ was already here.

"Not to offend you, lad," the man looked him up and down again with a funny look "You are big, but that guy was much bigger than you." Gendry frowned "But at least least you're not naked showing your hairy ass around!" the man tried to amend quickly.

Gendry ignored him. He couldn't waste more time with the old man. He needed to find _her_. The Terminator was already here and he needed to think what to do next. 

A gust of wind blew against him and Gendry shivered. Dragon suits were built to deflect heat of his climate, but they were not suitable for the cold weather of this one. He looked a the man clutching his cat against his warm coat.

"You said you liked my jacket." The man looked at his own dirty coat. "How about a trade?"

He needed to find her. But first he needed some proper clothes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the no-naked!Gendry but apparently my morals have a problem with him robbing a poor old beggar like in the movie :P  
> I don't know how long this will be but I have already 3 more chapters written down and half of chap 5 (this is more like a prologue really, chaps are about 3000 words). I don't know when I'll be posting though... I don't really want to rush it or my brain will go on BLOCK!mode, so...  
> I hope you liked the start!  
> -Special Thanks to PuzzledHats, because she's my sci-fi hero and without her stories I wouldn't even dare write this-


	2. Arya

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I already said, this will be basically be 'The Terminator' but some things will go very different.
> 
> Please remember that english is not my first language, and this fic in particular will be my first with action scenes. I always try to do it as best as I can but if you notice any terrible mistakes, please let me know.
> 
> BTW: The title of this fic comes from the famous movie quote that Kyle Reese says to Sarah Connor when the Terminator first attacks them, but Arya refused to hear Gendry say it. 
> 
> *Warnings: Arya likes to say shit a lot lol*
> 
> Hope you'll like the first chapter! So nervous!!

"Shit!" Arya cursed as one of those noisy kids ran into her, causing her almost to drop the tray she was carrying. Thank the Gods she had a good sense of balance due to years waiting tables and got off with only the glasses barely clincking.

 _'I swear to the Old Gods and the New that I'm never having one of those stupid brats!'_ But then, her little brothers, Bran and Rickon, had been like one of those noisy brats and she had loved them fiercely.

She took a deep breath and continued to her table. She glanced at the clock and saw that her shift was nearly done.

_'Only one more hour, Stark. You can do it.'_

Arya had been working in the 'Harrenhall Grill' for almost two years now. She liked to refer to the place as one of the Seven Hells, but it payed well and left her enough free time for Nymeria. She needed the money for her car she was still paying for and the apartment she shared with Jeyne.

Thinking of Jeyne made her groan. It was friday night and the girl would surely have her creepy boyfriend over.

"Hey Arry!" Hot Pie called from the kitchens. "Come take a look at this!"

The cook was watching some gruesome news about some poor girl that had been murdered. _'Arya Alannys Stark murdered by enormous stranger in own house.'_ the news read.

"Didn't you say your name was so rare? Seems like you've been murdered."

And it was true. She knew only one other girl that shared her name, Arya Alys Stark, and she was some distant cousin of hers. The Starks had been one of the biggest families in the North but now they were almost extinct. She was sure there were only a handfull left of them appart from that Alys girl, her sister Sansa and herself.

It made Arya shiver to think that yet another Stark left this world.

"Are you ok, darling?" Pia asked her.

"Yeah... Yeah, I'm fine." she lied. She would have to drive to that old telephone booth now and call Sansa, just to hear her voice. "Do you mind if I leave a little earlier today, Hot Pie?"

"N-no. Of course not." Hot Pie looked ashamed of himself. "Sorry if I upset you, Arry..."

"Don't worry." she waved him off. It was not his fault Starks kept on dying.

She quickly changed from the hateful waitress uniform into her faded dark jeans and red skull sweater that slid off her right shoulder slightly and throwing on her old worn out boots and warm jacket. She grabbed some leftovers as she left and headed home. 

She felt like somebody was watching her and when she turned to look she thought she saw a familiar tall figure, but then the man turned away and she saw it was just some other black haired guy. 

_'He wouldn't be wearing such a dirty coat anyway...'_

She rounded that old beggar's corner and found that he was already gone. It kept getting darker each day now that winter was coming and he must have left earlier. She would give him the food in the morrow then, she only hoped that he was safe wherever it was he retired to when night came.

It was not a long walk to her block and she hurried up the stairs to her apartment. Nymeria greeted her as always, as if she hadn't seen Arya in years, barking happily and jumping all over her.

"I missed you too, baby gurl." Arya gave the german shepherd dog a big kiss between the ears. She saw Ramsay's keys on the counter and groaned again. Now that Nymeria had stopped barking she could hear the faint moaning sounds coming from Jeyne's bedroom and Arya was in no mood to overhear one of their kinky sex-sessions. Nymeria huffed annoyed agreeing with her mistress.

"Go get your leash. We're leaving." The dog ran to their room while Arya packed some food and water. 

She let Nymeria run around a bit outside the block before heading to her car. She felt again as if somebody was watching her and blamed stupid Hot Pie for leaving her spooked with that murdered girl's news. Maybe it was just her imagination playing tricks but she thought she saw movement behind some bushes and took a slow step forward to take a closer look. Nymeria trotted worriedly towards her and made a whiney sound.

"Shh. I think there is someone out there." 

Arya took another carefull step forward. And then another one.

And then her phone went off loudly. 

" _Shit!_ " The stupid thing had scared her half to death. She reached angrily into her pocket and read _'Commander Mormont'_ on the screen.

"Shit." she cursed again. She was in no mood to talk to the Old Bear either. She was fed up with him asking how she was doing, if everything was alright, if she needed anything... Arya knew he meant well, but he would never be able to replace her father. No one could.

She touched the red button and pushed her phone back into her pocket calling for Nymeria who was now wigling her tail at the bushes with her head tilted sideways.

 _'I'm so stupid.'_ Arya thought. _'If there was any danger out there, Nym would tear their throats out.'_

She opened the car door and climbed inside after Nymeria, driving off to the old telephone booth.

 _'I just need to hear Sansa's voice, is all...'_ that would calm her nerves down.

She hadn't talked to her sister since after Robb's funeral two years ago. Some desperate junkie had pulled a gun on him and his wive. Her brother, always the hero, had stepped protectively before her when the junkie accidentaly pulled the trigger, taking her brother's life.

Another Stark down. Two, if you counted the child the Westerling girl lost later that same night in the hospital, before any of them even knew they were going to be parents. Jeyne lived with Sansa now, up in the Vale.

Some guy on a bike pulled over as she let Nymeria out of the car and she entered the booth. She fed the machine some coins and let the phone ring. 

Arya did this whenever she felt like her loneliness was starting to swallow her alive, needing to make sure there was still some one out there who shared her same blood. 

_"Hello?"_ the voice on the other side picked up _"Yes? Hello?"_

Arya never spoke. Never. She only closed her eyes and listened.

The sound of her sister's breathing filled the moment and she could just picture her smoothing out her beautiful red hair nervously, her soft fingers gripping the phone a little tighter. _"....Arya?"_

And here it was. That familiar choking feeling in her throat whenever she heard Sansa say her name with so much affection. Arya always called her sister from this same booth pretending that without the caller ID she wouldn't know it was her calling. But Sansa always knew. Always.

 _"I'm fine, Arya. We all are."_ Sansa's soft voice was always enough to make her want to run back into her arms. _"The boys keep asking when their favourite aunt is coming back."_ That made her smile. She missed Sansa's sons just as much as her sister.

Silence filled the line again but Arya still held onto the phone. Knowing that her sister was on the other side was more than enough.

 _"....I know you'll come back when you're ready."_ Sansa's sweet voice said, Arya nodded wordlessly into the phone. _"I know you will. Come home to me, please. I love you, sister..."_

Arya hung up the trembling phone before any sound could leave her mouth, only then did she let the sobs take her, sliding down the glass wall to cry on the floor. Because she could never go home. Home was her family and her family was gone and part of that was her own fault.

After a little while she opened the door and let Nymeria in, letting her lick the tears away from her face. She held Nym tightly and buried her nose in her fur inhaling the dog's soothing smell.

 _'This is what home smells like.'_ Nymeria was the last thing she had left of home and her smell always reminded her of happier times, back when everybody was still back together at Winterfell, before her dad died and everything started to fall appart.

She gave her dog one last affectionate squeeze before getting up and cross the street towards a bar.

_'I'm gonna need a fucking drink now.'_

It was friday night but this bar was outskirts and never very busy, and Arya liked that. She could sulk in a corner and nobody would bother her. And the owner never complained about Nymeria coming inside.

"One of those rough nights, huh, girl?" She nodded and paid the man.

She saw a few customers were watching some game on the big screen as she headed to her corner and decided to give it a try while she enjoyed her drink, but the game was fucking boring and her mind started to wander to things she didn't want to think about.

Nymeria sat up from where she was lying as some tall guy came in through the door. Arya didn't pay it too much mind, she was trying to see if the bartender was watching anything more interesting on his own small TV which turned out to be not a very good idea.

The new's man was talking about some other girl that had been murdered. Arya swiftly stepped over Nym's wiggling tail to take a closer look at the screen. _'Arya Alys Stark. Second on phone list. Second to die.'_ it read.

 _'Holy shit!'_ Arya grabbed the phonebook on the counter and quickly started to search for her name. 

_'Holy fucking shit!!'_ Arya Lyanna Stark was the third and last Arya on the list. _'I'm the fucking next to go!'_

She suddenly remembered Mormont's call earlier, her heart starting to beat faster. _'Shit, shit, shit!'_

She looked back to where Nymeria was but she was gone. "Nymeria...?" 

She heard her bark from somewhere near the door. She was sitting beside the tall guy that came in earlier and Arya couldn't help but sigh with relieve. It didn't last long though. As she took a closer look at the guy she saw he was wearing some kind of strange black pants, a long ditry coat and a blood red scarf around his neck. His piercing blue eyes were staring right back at her through his black hair.

 _'Holy motherfucking shit!!'_ It was the same guy she saw after work, the same guy on the bike. _'And I bet he was hiding behind that bush earlier!_

It took her only a second to bolt for the door from her frozen spot.

He also jumped up and almost managed to grab her arm, but she was quicker and ran through the door not before she clearly heard him call her name. _'Fucking Seven Hells!_

Arya ran down the street past the telephone booth towards her car but stopped when she realized she had left Nymeria with that psycho.

"Arya!!" He was running down the street towards her now, Nymeria trotting happily on her leash beside him.

She would kill her dog once she saved her from him. _'Had to decide just now to be best friends with a fucking serial killer!_

She looked around franticaly trying to find anything to knock him out and save Nym when she noticed another tall man walking up their sidewalk. The black haired guy was also tall and looked strong but he was surely no match for this other mountainsized, muscle-packed man. Nymeria started to bark wildly pulling on her leash and she heard the black haired guy call for her not to do it.

 _'Fuck you, asshole! I'm gonna get my girl back!_ She ran for the man without looking back.

"Please, sir! Please help me! That guy has been stalking me all day and now he has my dog!" she begged him but the man didn't even move, he just looked down at her with deadly eyes. "Sir...?" 

"Arya Stark?" His voice was deep and steely.

"What?" she heard herself mumble stupidly before he grabbed her wrists in an iron grip. _'I didn't see that coming..._

She heard Nymeria bark more desperate and the other guy was yelling for her to duck, but she was frozen in place by the man's glowing red eyes.

She heard a gun fire behind her and suddenly she was falling backwards as the man let go of her and the bullets blew a hole in his chest. Thank the Gods she was much shorter than him and the bullets flew right over her head instead of through it. But the man was still standing tall as if nothing just happened, as if he didn't even notice the smoke coming out from the hole in his chest.

Arya jumped as another shot hit him and this time it knocked the man dead to the ground, the hole in his chest bigger but he wasn't bleeding. Instead of blood there were sparks flying out of the wound and Arya could swear there was metal under his skin instead of flesh.

She felt Nymeria nudge her side and two strong arms were pulling her off the ground.

"Are you ok? Arya, are you hurt?" She was trying to nod, still staring at the fallen man, but she just couldn't. "I need your keys. Arya?" He shook her a little and she finally looked at his worried eyes. "I need your car keys."

"Y-yeah, s-sure..." She reached into her jeans and gave him the keys, letting him pull her to her car. The three of them got inside and he drove off quickly.

"What the fuck was that?" She finally manged after a while.

"A Terminator." he answered without looking at her. He kept looking through the rear mirror every now and then as if he was afraid the man would get up and come after them. 

"A Termi-what?" 

"A Terminator. A killer machine send to exterminate you."

"What do you mean 'send to exterminate me'?"

He finally looked at her but didn't say anything, as if he wasn't quite sure what he should say to her.

"Listen, Arya... I need to tell you something very important." He was pulling over on a deserted street. "But you have to promise you won't try to run away."

She didn't like the sound of that. She was fleeing with some total stranger that had been stalking her the whole day and had just shot some guy, twice, in the middle of the street without showing any remorse. Not to mention that he was wearing some flashy tight pants that left not much to the imagination, and no shirt under that dirty coat, only a blood-red scarf barely hiding the upper part of his sweating chest.

But this guy had also just saved her life, and Nymeria seemed to like him, so she was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

"What's your name anyway?"

"Gendry. Gendry Waters."

"Well, Gendry. This is Nymeria and I'm-"

"Arya Stark. I know who you are."

"I know you know who I am, stupid." she sneered. "I was just trying to formally introduce myself."

He looked annoyed that she called him stupid. Good. She was annoyed that he had interrupted her.

"As I was saying, I'm Arya _Lyanna_ Stark." she'd never liked the Lyanna bit but threw it in anyway just to annoy him some more.

She reached her hand out for him to shake but he just stared at it as if he didn't know what he was supposed to do with it. Nymeria was looking between them as if they were both stupid. 

"You're supposed to shake it, stupid." Arya insulted him again just to feel less awkward.

He grabbed her hand then and shook it a little too forcefully. She found his calloused warm hand wasn't uncomfortable.

"Happy, m'lady?" 

Nymeria barked happily as if she was satisfied with their interaction but Arya only felt irritated. "Don't call me that. And stop grinning!" but he just continued.

"Wasn't there some important thing you had to tell me?" That seemed to sober him up.

He made some stupid face as if thinking too hard hurt him and Arya thought that maybe he really was stupid.

"What I'm going to tell you is going to sound crazy to you but it _is_ the truth and I need you to believe me." Arya waited for him to continue and watched him take a deep breath. 

"My name is Gendry Waters. I am a sergeant soldier member of the Resistance. I've been send from a devastated 2041 to this year by our leader Jon Stark, your son, with the mission to protect your live from a Terminator, model Mountain-800, programmed to exterminate your existance and that of your child."

Arya was blinking at him with wide eyes. 

This guy was nuts! And worst was he seemed to believe everything he was saying.

"So... You're saying that... you were send from the future? By my... m-my- my- my _son_? A son that I don't even have!" She thought that was a very important thing to point out. "To save me from some evil killing machine, also send from the future, whose only mission consists in erasing my existence from this planet?"

"Jon Stark is not alive?" Of all the crazy things he just said, that seemed the only thing that mattered to him.

"Jon Stark does not even exist!" She repeated defensively.

A panicked look crossed his face and his eyes flew to her stomach as if he was trying to look inside her.

"Then you must be pregnant or something. When was the last time you had sex?"

Arya's face was beet red. "None of your business, you asshole!" It had been ages since she had slept with a guy but she wasn't about to tell him that.

"Well, there must be someone! A boyfriend. A lover. Someone you like or something!" 

"I don't have a fucking boyfriend!" All this talk about sex and lovers was making her feel uncomfortable.

"You don't understand!" Gendry grabbed her by shoulders forcing her look at him. "Jon Stark has to exist or there will be no future!"

He had a really panicked look on his face but somehow the only thing that Arya could think about was that he was wearing no shirt.

"Don't touch me, you wanker!" Her fist flew against his face so hard his head smacked against the window behind him and she jumped out of the car.

" _Fuck!_ " he cursed as he stumbled out of the car following her, his fingers touching his broken lip. "Who knew such a little girl could hit so hard..."

"I'm not a little girl! And don't you come fucking near me!" Arya warned.  
He stopped right there and lifted his hands in surrender. "Hey, listen. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to grab or scare you."

"You didn't fucking scare me!" 

"What are you doing?" Gendry asked alarmed as Arya fumbled for something in her jeans.

"I'm calling Commander Mormont!" She was trying to find her bloody phone.

"I can't let you do that." he stepped closer again.

"Why the fuck not?" She was trying to type the numbers but her fingers were trembling too much.

"Because the police station is the first place he will look for you." She ignored him and continued typing. "Arya, listen to me. We need to get back into the car and get out of here."

"I'm not going anywhere with you!" She only looked up from the phone to scream at him. "He is fucking dead! You blew a hole in his fucking chest!" 

"You know he's not human! You saw it yourself! He will come after you again!" Gendry yelled back coming closer.

She had finally managed to type the correct number but hesitated.

"Arya..." he pleaded. "I can't let you do that."

She looked at him one last time. And then pushed the call button.

He flung himself at her cursing, trying to get the phone out of her very elusive hands but they seemed to slip out of his every grip.

 _"Arya? Where are you?"_ a worried voice asked from the other side of the line just as Gendry lifted her squirming body by the waist and finally managed to rip the phone from her hands. He threw it hard against the concrete and broke it with his boot.

"You fucking asshole! Let me down!" 

She kicked back as hard as she could and he let go of her bending over in pain. She made a run for the car. Nymeria was still inside and they were getting out of there.

"Shit!" The keys were gone.

"Fuck, Arya..." he came groaning to her door. "Listen just for one fucking second! We have to stick together."

But Arya was having none of that and held onto the first thing that her fingers reached, which happened to be his hammer.

"Shit! Don't do that!" he yelled, but she was already swinging the heavy thing.

He threw his arm up instinctively trying to block the blow, but Arya had swung with all her might and it's side hit him hard across the temple, knocking him out.

Arya was breathing hard, staring at Gendry's unconcious body. Nymeria came running out of the car and began to lick his face as if trying to wake him up, but he didn't move.

"Shit..." She was only trying to knock him out, not kill him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know most of us know the Terminator Universe and know very well how the story goes but PLEASE if you leave a comment (I luv all ur comments btw!!) PLEASE try not to spoil future events for those who do not know how it goes so it will be more enjoyable for them to read ;)


	3. Should Have Listened To Him

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shit gets real in this one.
> 
> So nervous about the action scenes! And I have no slightest idea about guns, so yolo to that...
> 
> *WARNINGS: first bodies start to drop* lol what did you guys expect?
> 
> Hope you enjoy! :)

"Here you go." Mormont handed her a hot cup of coffee.

After knocking Gendry out, she and Nymeria had dragged him back inside the car and she had driven them straight to the police station. It was the only safe place she knew of.

Mormont and Yoren came out running before she could even kill the engine. They had been worried sick after her attempted call and apparently someone had called in a shooting and a man kidnapping one of the victims.

Yoren had dragged an already awakening Gendry inside, swearing he would kill the bloody bastard himself if he had dared to hurt her. The Old Bear had only shaken his head at her when he saw Gendry's injured face and ushered her inside, offering her some warm blankets and coffee.

"Jeyne Poole and Ramsay are dead." he had told her once in the observation room. "The murderer went to your apartment shortly after you left from work. We tried to call your house but the line was already dead. Then someone called in the shooting."

Arya nodded. She looked at a screen to see Gendry being questioned by Yoren in the room next door. She was sorry for Jeyne and Ramsay, but she was happier to still be alive. 

"What happened there, Arya? People say the boy shot that man in the heart. Twice. But he still got up and walked out of there on his own."

That was what worried Arya the most. Gendry had been right and that thing was still out there somewhere.

"It's just as you tell. He shot him and we ran."

Yoren came out of the questioning room pissed. "This lad's head is as thick as a bull's!"

She looked at the screen again and saw Gendry cuffed to the table glaring back at her with dried blood on his broken lip and a swollen temple. "Has he said anything?"

"Nah. Just the same story he told ya. That he's called Gendry, come from the future, swore to protect ya, blah blah blah."

Mormont sighed tiredly and got up. "I'll go check if any mental institutions are missing a patient..."

"He didn't seem crazy, Yoren. Do you think he's telling the truth?"

Yoren scratched his beard and looked a the screen. "He seems pretty convinced 'bout what he's sayin'. And you said yarself he protected you from that freak."

"But the things he said... How can they be true?"

"I don't know, kiddo. But people said that man walked off as if nothing and you said you saw metal under his skin."

Arya didn't know what she had seen anymore. If she admitted that that Mountain guy was a cyborg, a Terminator, she would have to admit Gendry was telling the truth, and she didn't know if she was ready to accept everything he'd told her.

She bit her lip and looked at him burying her hand in Nymeria's fur for comfort.

"Why are you so afraid of him, kid? Did he hurt ya? 'Cause if he hurt ya I swear-"

"He didn't hurt me." Yoren had always been protective of her ever since her dad died. "He just... said some... _things_." He raised one brow at her. Arya looked away quickly, blushing just remembering what had happened. "Then he grabbed me and he was wearing no shirt and I guess I just freaked out!" Both his eyebrows were up in the air now. " _What?!_ "

"Nothin'...." She thought he would let it slide for once. She was wrong. "I'm just sayin' if you get all flustered 'cause he was wearing no shirt, don't know what those tight pants made ya feel."

"Yoren!" Arya's was mortified.

"I'm just sayin' you need to go out on more dates. Have some fun. Take a boy home... Get laid."

" _Yoren!_ " she shrieked. 

"I just want you to be happy, kiddo." She knew he only meant well but the last thing she wanted was to talk about her sex-life with Yoren. 

A loud crash came from the front part of the station and the building trembled slightly. Nymeria jumped up and started to bark. Gendry must have heard her in the other room and also jumped up and started to pull on his cuffs.

"What was that?"

"Don't know. Seems like something crashed into the entry."

Yoren turned on one of the surveillance screens to see what was happening in the main hall. Someone had crashed a car into the police station and was walking through the main door as if going for a walk, while police officers tried to shoot him down with no success.

"That's the Terminator!" Arya gasped. Gendry had told her it would come after her.

Mormont appeared on screen armed with a long slide, standing proud in the Mountain's way, and fired. The cyborg barely staggered. He continued walking, ripped the rifle from Mormont's hand and then killed the Old Bear with it.

"Fucking son of a bitch!"

"No!!" Arya cried.

Nymeria started to bark louder and Gendry started to scream for her from the other side of the screen.

" _Arya! Arya! ARYA!!_ "

"We have to let him out, Yoren!"

The man grabbed the keys quickly and they entered the interrogation room to find Gendry pulling desperately at his handcuffs. Yoren freed him and he ran straight to Arya, taking her teary face in his hands to see if she was hurt.

"Are you okay? I heard you scream."

Arya nodded. "He killed Mormont..."

"Where is my hammer? I need my hammer!"

"Just in the other room, lad."

"Get the biggest guns you have! He will barely feel the smaller bullets!" Gendry commanded while slinging his hammer on his back. "They won't kill him but they will stop him for a while and give us time to escape!"

"We can't just leave him here to kill all these people!" Arya protested.

He grabbed her by the wrists and pulled her close. "Your safety is paramount!!" His eyes flashed in anger and the fire inside them told her that he would not tolerate her fighting him on this. Arya tried to escape his grip but he only squeezed harder. "Do I make myself clear?"

"He is right, kid." Yoren interceded to soothe the tension. "And if that thing is really after ya, he will leave once yar gone."

Gendry gave him a thankful nod, knowing he had added that last part to help him convince her.

"Here." Gendry shoved a short shotgun into her hands. "I trust you know how to use this? Always aim for the eyes and where the heart would be, it's where he is more vulnerable."

Arya secured the sling around her shoulder while Yoren handed Gendry another loaded gun.

"You take Nymeria and get out of here, she'll protect you while we keep him busy. I'll catch you later by your car."

Arya nodded and turned to leave. "Nymeria! She's gone!"

Gendry searched all the different places of the station on surveillance screens for the shepherd dog. She had run to where the Terminator was and was barking offensively at him. "Shit!" She was already trying to find an angle to attack him.

Arya was already making for the door to get her before she would get herself killed when Gendry grabbed her, this time a little more gentle. "You try to stay back. I'm going to get her for you, alright?"

Arya nodded again, thankful that he understood that she couldn't just leave Nymeria behind.

Yoren and Gendry entered the main hall before her. It was a total chaos. Policemen laid dead everywhere and the few that were still alive kept on shooting without even aiming, seized by panick.

A bullet flew into the wall just beside Yoren's head. "Ya bloody fools! At least try to shoot in the direction of yar enemy!"

"Call her back, Arya!" Gendry's voice roared over the gunfire. "Call her back and get out of here!" He tried to shoot the Terminator's chest, but the flying bullets made it very difficult for him to aim and he only hit it's shoulder.

"Nymeria! Nymeria, to me!!" Arya screamed from behind a counter.

Nymeria heard her and came running back to her, but she wasn't the only one who had heard her. The Terminator also turned towards her, already raising his rifle. Gendry stood up completely from behind his cover hoping for a better chance to shoot him down, but some pistol bullet grazed his arm in the last second and he missed.

The two barrels of the Terminator's rifle were staring right at her now. Arya clenched her teeth and held onto Nymeria prepared to die. But the cyborg's shot failed too. Yoren had managed to make perfect aim from the other side of the hall and shot him right in the side of its face. He dropped his empty gun and turned to go after Yoren.

"Get her out of here, boy!" he yelled.

The Terminator changed his mind at that and turned back to Arya. The skin around his cheekbone had been ripped away with the blow and she could see the metal skull around his glowing red eye. Yoren shot him again, this time in the chest, to get his attention back and shot yet again.

Gendry seized the moment to get to Arya and lift her from the floor.

"You protect her, boy!" Yoren shouted at them while he kept shooting at the Terminator. "You protect her with your life! Or I swear I'll come back and kill ya meself!"

They ran as fast as they could so Yoren's sacrifice wouldn't be in vain.

\--------

They found refuge near the woods after an hour long drive. Arya led him to a half collapsed stone bridge and climbed through the entry of an old canal underneath it.

"Are you sure no one knows about this place?"

"No one that still lives." She used to come and play here with her brothers when they where children. "Maybe my sister, Sansa. But she lives up in the Vale."

"Arghh..." He was stubbornly trying to take care of his shot wound by himself. He looked stupid sitting there half naked and trying to tie his scarf around his arm with the only help of one hand and his teeth.

She kneeled down beside him and swatted his hand away. "Let me do that." She undid his work and started to bind the wound anew carefully. "I see you have practice in this." She saw now his scarf had once been of a dark green color, the red came really from old bloodstains, probably from binding the older wounds that had already formed the many scars on his skin.

"Where I come from, one must learn from young age to bleed for his brothers to become a member of the Resistance."

"Sounds like a rough place..."

Gendry nodded. 

"Imagine thousands of machines like that M-800 attacking day and night, programmed with only one mission: to exterminate the whole human race. They destroy everything in their path, burning everything down, and they never tire. The Vegetation is almost nonexistent and the years and stations seem to blend together. Always that unbearable heat... Sometimes the temperature gets so hot we have to spend weeks hiding in subterrean refuges. Attacks can happen at any hour, one must always be prepared for combat. That's what we breed the dogs for." He patted the sleeping Nymeria beside him affectionately. "Nothing detects Terminators as good as them."

"That sounds like a horrible place to grow up..." she finished binding the two ends in one careful knot. 

Arya couldn't begin to imagine what it must have been like for him. Her childhood was filled with happy memories, with the laughter of her brothers chasing her through these same tunnels, or the occasional fight with Sansa claiming she was too busy combing her dolls to play with her so she wouldn't loose at hide and seek because Arya always found the best hiding places.

This made Arya feel sad for him. "Didn't you have any brothers?"

Gendry nodded. "An older sister. Mya." He smiled and the blue of his eyes seemed so much brighter, happy wrinkles appearing all around them. It made her want to smile too. "She was the best sister in the world. Brave and strong, always looking out for me. I wanted to be just like her."

That souned a lot like her brother Jon to her. He had also been the best brother ever. "I bet you must love each other dearly." She and Jon always had.

His smile faded and his eyes shone with something else. "She was killed a few weeks before I joined the Resistance..."

"I'm sorry..." Arya knew the feeling of loss all too well. First it was her father, then her mother and little brothers in that car accident. When Jon disappeared behind the Wall during that ski-trip she thought her heart couldn't bear losing any more loved ones. And then Robb died and she just knew her heart had shattered into a million little pieces. 

"What about your parents?" She tried to fill the silence that had ensued. "What were they like?"

Gendry leaned his head back against the wall closing his eyes. "There's not much I remember. My mother died when I was very little. I liked to play with her golden hair when she held me close to her chest. And her green eyes were always smiling when she sang us to sleep. I can't even remember her name..." There was a small smile on his lips when he opened his eyes again, but it was only a sad shadow of the one before. "I don't remember anything about my father."

"I bet he was a Baratheon." she blurted out.

" _I am not a Baratheon._ " 

The fury in his voice was so sudden that it would have knocked her on her ass hadn't she been sitting already. Even Nymeria sat up from where she had been sleeping beside him, making a dissaproving sound. But he didn't even look at her. His eyes were too busy burning into Arya's.

"I-I only meant-" she stuttered.

"I am _not_ a Baratheon." he repeated.

His jaw was clamped down so hard it almost scared her. Nymeria was by her side in one second and that seemed to give her enough courage to turn her fear into anger.

"I didn't say you _were_." she threw right back at him through gritted teeth. "I only meant that with your black hair and blue eyes you could very well be one."

"Well, I'm _not_." he insisted firmly.

"Fine!" she snarled. He didn't need to be a jerk about it.

Arya turned her back on him and laid down angrily. "It's been a long day so I'm going to fucking sleep now!" She jerked her jacket tighter to her body and cuddled close to Nymeria for warmth ignoring him completely. She had gone through enough for one day to put up with him being a stubborn ass too. 

She pretended she didn't hear him take a long deep breath, nor the both times he opened his mouth about to say something. She finally heard him lay down behind her and somehow his silence annoyed her even more.

"...I'm sorry..." he whispered after a while, his voice was much calmer, all anger gone. "I didn't mean to lash out like that."

She wanted to ignore him, but he sounded truly sheepish.

"What's so wrong about being a Baratheon anyway?" she heard herself ask softly. 

There was his deep breath again and she knew he was trying to stay calm.

"BaratheonCorp are the ones who engineered the first Terminators." he finally confessed.

Arya looked at him over her shoulder. He glanced at her for a moment then turned back to stare at the ceiling.

"Being a Baratheon would mean my own blood is responsible for all the death and destruction of my world."

She rolled to lay on her back and join him staring at the ceiling, it helped to think. She could understand why he got so angry. For him it would be like pulling the trigger that killed his sister himself. But that was not true.

"We are not responsible for our fathers' sins." she tried to comfort him.

"You don't understand..." he sighed tiredly.

"My Dad was Robert Baratheon's best friend." Arya whispered. It was true. "He was Robert's right hand. They developed all their projects together..." She knew that he was looking at her now, but she felt too ashamed to look back at him. "I have bad blood too..."

There was a long moment of silence between them where Arya could only stare at her hands. "Do you hate me now?" It shouldn't bother her so much if he did, he had only been a stranger a few hours ago.

"No." His voice was soft but she knew he meant it when she looked up at him. "I don't think I could ever hate you."

"Good." Arya nodded and scooted a little closer tired. "Because I kind of like you."

She tried to form a little smile but she was already falling fast asleep against his arm. 

\--------

He felt her shiver against his arm after a while. The night had gotten colder and the humidity of the canal made the feeling even sharper. He didn't think twice and moved the arm to drape it over her back just to grant her a little extra warmth, but then she had sighed contently and huddled even closer to him, sneaking one small cold hand under his coat, and he found himself liking the weight of her sleeping body across his chest a little too much.

She looked so peaceful when she was sleeping.

 _'Stop it! You can't get too attached to her.'_ he chastised himself. _'She is only your mission!'_ But he still found himself holding her little tighter, her fingers curling against his skin as she felt a little warmer.

He sighed softly, tucking her head under his chin, before letting sleep slowly take him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *In my mind, Arya and Gendry are about 22 and 26 years old in this one.
> 
> *I changed the T-800 for Terminator to M-800 for the Mountain. My first choice was to have Sandor as the Terminator, but Gregor is more ruthless and doesn't give a shit about anything, so I thought he was the better option.
> 
> *Kyle Reese seemed to be very fond of dogs in the movie, and the Resistance (and me) had all these german shepherds, that's the main reason I kept Nymeria in and turned her into a shepherd dog.


	4. Like Meeting Ghosts From The Past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We learn a little more about Gendry's world and meet new characters.

The sun was already out when Gendry woke and was Arya gone. 

He panicked at first thinking she had been taken somehow while he was fast asleep, but he relaxed when he remembered that Nymeria had been with them, and her barks would have woken him if that were the case. 

It was unusual for him to sleep this long. In the Resistance you got woken up every few hours to find that you were yet again under attack. One whole night of rest was near impossible and he was more than grateful for this one being the case because his head was killing him. It wasn't everyday you got knocked unconcious with your own hammer and he guessed that that was probably the main reason he had slept until this late. He had fallen asleep shortly after Arya and didn't wake until now.

 _'Arya.'_ Just thinking about her name brought a smile to his face. Strong, courageous Arya, who hadn't doubted punching him straight in the face when she thought she was in danger, who had faced the gunfire bravely trying to get them all out of that police station, who had looked the Terminator defiantly into his eyes even when she thought she would surely die. She was a though little thing, just like Jon had told him. But she had also been gentle and caring.

 _'Stop that! You can't start thinking about her like that! She's only your mission, nothing more.'_ And yet she had looked so sweet when she had sleepily confessed she liked him some. _'Enough! This is Jon Stark's mother for the Gods' sake!_

He missed Jon already. He and Gendry were best friends, more like brothers really. Always fighting side by side, looking out for each other. He was only a few years older than him but already held a much higher rank in the Resistance, not that Jon ever cared about those things. It had been him who insisted Gendry had to be the one to be send through time to protect his mother. "I trust no one else with her life." he had told him fiercely as they said their goodbyes, just before Gendry stepped with only his hammer and a picture of Arya into the time machine.

The picture was old and already beginning to fade. He had looked at it over a hundred times to memorize her face, in case the picture wouldn't resist the heat of the voyage. But there were other times he would just look at it because it made him feel happy. 

Just like now.

He smoothed a finger over the picture and saw a smiling Arya hugging a four year old Jon close to her. They were somewhere sunny and green with flowers all around them and everything looked so full of life and joy. It had been everything he'd ever dreamed of back then in his dead dark world.

He heard footsteps from the entry of the canal and reached for his hammer instinctively.

"It's me!" Arya called out as she entered the tunnel. "It's just me."

He sighed in relief and quickly pocketed the picture near his heart before she could see it. She was carrying a bag and had Nymeria on her leash.

"There you are. I was starting to get worried." 

"Nym needed to go for a walk and you were sleeping so soundly I didn't want to wake you. Don't worry, I took the shotgun with me just in case." she patted the weapon secured on her hip. 

"Where did you get that?" he asked as she threw the bag down beside him and began to rummage in it.

"I remembered I had packed some things before leaving the house. I bet you're hungry." She handed him a bottle of water. "There should be some painkillers in here too..."

He drank half the bottle in one swig while she got him two pills. He only wanted to take one, medicines were scarce in the Resistance, but Arya insisted it was fine.

"I got more and I bet your head needs them." She fished out two beaten down sandwiches and handed him one. "I'm sorry I punched you..."

"What about the hammer?" his face was serious but his tone was teasing.

Arya rolled her eyes. " _And_ hitting you with your hammer."

" _Seven Heavens!_ " Gendry cursed after the first bite. Arya jumped a little thinking there was something wrong with the chicken salad sandwich. "This- This is... This is the best thing I've ever tasted!" he said bewildered taking another big bite.

Arya snorted loudly. "I must have hit you pretty hard. Everyone says I can't cook shit."

"Well, maybe their taste is shit," he mumbled with his mouth full and already taking another bite. "Because this is the best thing I've ever eaten!"

It was true. In his world, with most of the vegetation gone, you ate whatever green thing you could find and the meat always tasted meager and old.

"Talking about your hammer," Arya started casually while she fed some of her sandwich to Nymeria. "What is it good for? You're always reaching for it, and at the police station it was the first thing you asked for, but I've never seen you use it."

"That's because it's only good for close combat." He laid it in front of her so she could take a better look at it. The head was not too big and almost black in color with one spiked end, the shaft was long and a little lighter, the grip ending in soft leather. It looked beautiful all dark with a carefull pattern engraved all over it. "See how dark the metal is? It's the same metal the Terminators are made of. It's called valyrian steel." 

"Valyrian steel...?" Arya gasped.

"You know it? I thought it wasn't invented yet."

"It isn't. At least I thought it wasn't..." There was a ghastly expression on her face. "Not after what happened last time..."

"What happened last time?" he promted but Arya's mind seemed to be somewhere else. 

Her face suddenly changed completely into fierce termination. "We should go to Storm's End."

"What? What for?"

"The Baratheons are the ones that invented valyrian steel. If they know how to create it they probably know how to destroy it."

"You want us to go to BaratheonCorp?"

"No. BaratheonCorp is full of Lannisters these days, that wouldn't get us anywhere. We need the real deal. Renly will help us." 

\--------

"I don't think this is such a good idea." Gendry repeated as they walked up to the huge mansion. It reminded him of that big house Mya always fantasized about when they were kids. "What makes you think the Baratheons will help us? Believe us even?"

Arya rolled her eyes at him. He had tried to convince her all the way to Storm's End that they were only wasting their time coming here. The Terminator was still out there somewhere looking for her and they needed to get as far away from it as possible, preferably north.

As far as he knew BaratheonCorp had made fat money selling their first line of cyborgs. Their software was not too sofisticated, just so they would obey very basic orders. Then some idiot decided they would look good handling weapons and doted them with one of the finest artificial inteligence programs, C-Net they called it, and then everything went to shit. The Baratheons he knew had cared more about making profit than about the consecuences. They would never agree to help them.

"Baratheons and Starks have been friends for years. I've known Renly and his nephews since I was a little girl, I know he will believe me. I understand this is hard for you to accept this, but they are good people." He scoffed but she ignored him."Those money hungry Baratheons you talk about sound more like Lannisters to me."

Gendry was still not convinced of any of this but there seemed to be no way to change her mind so he just followed her and Nymeria to the door.

"Please just try to be civil while we're here." she sighed and rang the bell. 

Nymeria wiggled her tail and Arya patted the floor with her foot nervously waiting for the door. She glanced back at him biting her lip and suddenly realized the state they were in.

" _Shit._ " Her hands flew out to franticaly smooth out his dirty coat and button up a few more holes, in what Gendry asumed was an attempt to hide his shirtless state. _'She didn't seem to mind until now...'_ "Maybe I should warn you about some things before we enter-" Her hand tried to reach for his hair, but Gendry decided he had had enough of all her fidgeting and dodged it, causing her hand to land on his bruised temple instead, which caused him to wince in pain.

"Shit! I'm so sorry!" she quickly apologized.

Her hands were already reaching out again, this time to check the damage she had caused, but he slapped them away annoyed. "Will you stop that already!"

The door opened in that moment and they both froze in place.

Nymeria started to bark happily at the man at the door. He was very nicely dressed, with curly brown hair and looked a few years older than Gendry.

He recognized Arya immediatly and quickly stepped out to hug her with relief. "Thank the Gods, Arya!" He released her to greet Gendry next but froze when he saw his face, looking absolutely confused .

He looked between Gendry and the door and then back at Gendry, looking him up and down. One of his perfect brows raised apraisingly when he noticed the black dragon suit he was wearing. "Nice pants." Apparently Arya found that amusing.

"Who is it Loras?" another voice came from inside the house.

"It's Arya and Nymeria." the brown haired man yelled back looking at Gendry's face again, still a little confused. "And- eh... a younger, scruffier version of you?"

"What are you blabbering about?" The door opened a little wider and indeed there stood another young man that could easily pass as an older, better dressed and less beaten up version of him.

Both were gawking at each other now, equally surprised. The other man was lean and a little shorter, with a neatly trimmed goete where Gendry was broader with muscle and dark stubble covering his cheeks, but else they both had the same thick black hair and same shade of blue eyes. Gendry only knew one other man with the same blue he and Mya shared.

The stranger finally blinked and stepped closer to Arya. "Not that I'm not delighted to see you, darling," She let him kiss her cheek. "But who's your friend?"

Gendry jumped a little when Nymeria's wet nose poked him, braking his trance. Arya was motioning for him to come a little closer to introduce them properly.

"Renly, this is my -eh- friend Gendry Waters. Gendry these are Renly Baratheon and Loras Tyrell."

" _'Waters'_?" he heard the the Loras guy say, still looking at Renly. "He looks Baratheon through and through."

Arya gave Gendry a simpathetic smile at that. He felt foolish now for getting so angry with her last night. He couldn't blame her for pointing out something that was so obvious to him now.

"I know you weren't expecting us," Arya said to Renly. "And I know that we're all dirty and everything, but, could we come in for a moment? There are some very important things we need to talk about." 

\-----

Gendry had never been inside a house like this. It seemed too big to him but warm and welcoming, with lots of flowers everywhere and paintings of beautiful horned animals decoring the walls. Arya explained to him that it was because Renly and Loras were a couple and those were their Families' Sigils. The occasional lions were for Tommen and Myrcella, who were Renly's nephews and also lived in this house.

"Tommen went to help Myrcella with the groceries." Renly said as he led them to the kitchen. "We all try to make her take things a little easier now that she's pregnant, but she refuses to be _'treated like an invalide'_." he finished in what Gendry asumed was an impersonation of the girl's voice. "They should be back soon."

Gendry had to admit that the Baratheons were not that awfull. They had let them in without any second thoughts and promptly offered to cook them something to eat. It had only been a few hours since those sandwiches, but all the running and fighting from last night had left them starving. They were devouring whatever Loras was preparing for them. Even Nymeria was munching contenly on some pieces of meat they had put on her plate. Gendry found he really liked those tasty little orange things called carrots.

"We were worried sick after we saw those girls in the news. We called Mormont but he didn't know where you were either and then the police station was attacked." Renly explained while he watched them eat.

"It was that cyborg..." Arya's voice was tight. "It killed Mormont and Yoren. They were just trying to help us..."

Gendry put a comforting hand on her back. He had barely spoken to Mormont but it was clear she had been fond of the man, and Yoren had been a tough brave bastard. He had taken that rifle and emptied all his shots on the Terminator, knowing exactly that it would kill him afterwards, only to give Gendry a chance to get Arya out of there. If it weren't for Yoren they would probably be dead too.

"How is it even possible for something like that thing to exist?" Loras asked as he put another plate before them and sat down beside Renly.

"We were hoping you could help us with that." Arya said tentatively. "Listen, I know everything I told you sounds totally crazy, I didn't want to believe it myself, but it is all true. Somewhere in BaratheonCorp they are developing these cyborgs and in a few years they are going to rebel and start killing us all."

"Arya," Loras sighed deeply. "That sounds totally nuts..."

"But it is true! Everything Gendry told me is true!" She swiftly jumped from her seat, her red sweater sliding off her right shoulder slightly, her voice a little desperate. Loras shook his head but Gendry saw Renly wanted to believe her. "He can prove it! He has a hammer made of valyrian steel!"

Both, Loras and Renly, looked at Gendry now in disbelief.

"Is that true?" Renly asked, giving him all his attention. "Can we see that hammer?"

Gendry nodded. He had tucked it under his coat earlier so as not to attract any unwanted attention on the streets. He layed it before the two men so they could examine it. Renly took the hammer and shifted it from one angle to another to inspect dark color intenly. 

He looked straight at Gendry in awe and handed it to Loras. "It's the real deal... Where did you get it?"

Gendry looked at Arya unsure, she nodded for him to continue. "Jon Stark gave it to me to protect his mother. It was the only thing he had of his father."

Renly looked between them for a moment with an expression Gendry couldn't read.

Everybody looked up when Nymeria trotted out of the kitchen, her tongue lolling, as someone came in through the back door.

"Not a word of this to Myrcella." Renly commanded them sternly.

There where two voices coming through the corridor, one male and one female. The boy was arguing about how the woman shouldn't carry so many bags, that her husband would kill him if he found out, but the woman was telling him that it was nothing, that she was fed up with them fussing all over her and Gendry realized this was the girl Renly had imitated earlier.

Gendry turned to the kitchen door just in time to see a pregnant woman carrying two big papper bags full of groceries, they were so big you could only see the top of her blonde head. He immediately made to lift one of the bags off her. 

"Thanks, Renly." she mumbled without even looking at him, still arguing with the boy.

When she turned toward him, Gendry was shocked to find smiling green eyes looking back at him. She was just as shocked and dropped her own bag gasping loudly. They both stood there frozen for a moment, just staring at each other, as if they had seen a ghost. He didn't even noticed the way Arya was looking between them, nor the way the other boy with glasses was also staring at him.

"Myrcella," Renly touched the young woman on the arm softly so not to spook her, only then did she break the eye contact. "This is Arya's friend, Gendry." 

The woman blinked as if to clear her head. "I'm so sorry," she blushed a little. "That was so rude of me." Her hand moved to stroke her swollen belly, still a little shaken. "But you look just like- like-"

"You look just like dad." the boy, her brother Gendry judged by their looks, finished for her.

She looked really abashed, but Gendry knew exactly what she must be feeling. "It's alright. You kind of remind me of someone I've lost too." He gave her an understanding smile and she returned it grateful.

"Is that valyrian steel?" Tommen asked amazed as he saw the hammer. He put his bags down right away and rushed to Loras, pushing his glasses in place, so he could hold and touch it with his own hands, and feel how sharp the pointed end was, and look at every little detail of its engraving.

"Valyrian steel?" Myrcella prompted at her brother's excitement.

Loras shot Tommen a chastising look that immediately sobered him. Arya and Renly were trying to look nonchalant, they didn't want to talk about all this Terminator business in front of her and make her worry in her pregnant state.

"Myrcella, sweetheart," Renly enwined his arm through hers, leading her away from the kitchen. "Arya and Gendry had a very tiring long ride up to Storm's End. I was just telling them they could freshen up since they're already here." Gendry suddenly felt him tug on his arm too to follow. "Would you mind showing Gendry here to one of the guestrooms upstairs?" He tried to shake Renly's hand off, not wanting to leave Arya alone, but Renly only tugged harder.

"But I haven't even greeted Arya properly yet." Myrcella protested feebly as she let herself be dragged away.

"Oh, never mind that, darling. She'll be right here when you come back." he said more for Gendry's sake than hers. "Maybe you could find him some proper clothes that would fit him, if that's not too much trouble."

"S-sure."

Gendry looked one last time back to Arya to make sure she would be fine. She nodded at him patting Nymeria's head to reassure him and gave him an encouraging smile.

\-----

Gendry followed Myrcella up the stairs and down a long corridor to a set of rooms. There was a big desk in the main room with a bronce figure of one of those horned animals and pictures all over it and the great bookshelf behind.

"These were my father's private chambers. He liked to work here when he was not in the lab." Myrcella said before she went into the bedroom to get some clothes.

Gendry took the opportunity to take a closer look at the pictures. They were full of Myrcella and Tommen in various states of their youth and some other sour-faced older boy that looked just like them. There even was one of Myrcella and Arya playing as little girls. Gendry smiled at Arya's cheeky grin as she swung Myrcella on some wooden board attached to two chords. She looked a little like his picture of Jon, only he had blue eyes instead of grey. 

There was another very formal picture of an elegant golden haired woman and a plump bearded man that must have been Myrcella's parents. Gendry touched his stomach concerned, not really seeing the resemblance with the man, appart from the black hair and blue eyes.

"He was already a little too fat in that one." said Myrcella amused when she came back and saw what he was doing. She picked up one from the desk and gave it to him. "This one looks more like you."

It was the same man but much younger with the beard shaved off and making funny poses together with some other grey eyed boy about his same age. Gendry had to admit that he really did look a lot like the young man in the picture, they were even more alike than him and Renly, and Renly was his brother.

"This one looks a bit like Arya." He pointed to the other long-faced boy and handed the picture back to Myrcella.

"That is Ned, her father." There was an affectionate smile on her face. "They were best friends since boys. Always together through thick and thin."

"What happened to him? Arya never told me." He remembered her ghastly expression that same morning.

Myrcella ran a loving hand over the picture before putting it back down. "They both died in a lab accident six years ago." She took a shaky breath and continued. "They were developing a new, more resistant metal for a skeleton line of artificial limbs, but the temperatures required for welding were very high and there was an explosion. They were the only ones that died."

 _'Valyrian steel...'_ It was a very unstable metal to work with. They never learned how to do it properly in the Resistance. If they only had been able to create new weapons made of valyrian steel instead of recicling old body parts of fallen Terminators, things would have been much easier. Valyrian steel was the only metal that could shatter valyrian steel. Gendry's hammer was an unique weapon even in his own world.

He noticed another picture on one of the shelves of a teenage Myrcella on some ginger boy's arm. They were both smiling at the camera. _'Maybe that's my father.'_

"Is that your husband?" Gendry asked hopefully.

"Oh, n-no. No." Myrcella answered quickly and a little flustered. "That is Robb." Not his father then. "He was one of Arya's brothers. I had such a crush on him back then."

"'Was'?" Another dead family member of Arya he didn't know of.

Myrcella gave him a sympathetic smile at that. "Arya doesn't trust that easily anymore, you shouldn't take it too much at heart. Life has been rough on her ever since her father died..." 

He had sensed there was sadness behind her strong facade when they had talked last night, but he had no idea what it was. He wished she would tell him so that he could help her.

"Have you two been together for long?" Myrcella asked curiously seeing the thoughtful look on his face.

"Together?" Gendry asked puzzled.

"Oh! I'm sorry." Myrcella blushed realizing her mistake. "I just thought- The way you look at each other- I'm so sorry."

That left him even more confused. "How do we look at each other?"

"Well, you know," Myrcella shrugged. "Like you're trying to look out for each other, care for one another. Edric always looks at me like that..." She was smiling softly now rubbing her hand over her belly.

Well, they did look out for each other, but that was more out of neccesity than anything else. And Gendry _did_ care about her, maybe more than he should, but he didn't realize he was being so obvious about it, nor that she felt the same way. His lip curled up stubbornly without him wanting to. He cleared his throat to force himself to sober when he saw Myrcella smirking at him knowingly.

"Here." She tried not to chuckle shoving some clothes into his arms. "They're not as flashy as those pants of yours but I think Arya will like them well enough." 

She gave him a wink of complicity and left him stunned there without knowing what to say.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this universe, all of Cersei's children are truly Robert's.  
> And Myrcella is married to Edric Storm, who is Stannis' son in this one, just to get Mya's and Gendry's genes back to Baratheon.


	5. Learning About Your Enemy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We learn more about the terminators in this one.  
> I'm no big computer geek so forgive me if there are any mistakes with the tech terminology...
> 
> *WARNING: cute nerdy Tommen ahead! <3*

"Come, sit down here a little with me." Renly patted the place beside him on the couch. Arya was all too happy to obey, being tired as she was, and let herself drop down loudly. "You look exhausted." he observed, slinging one arm around her shoulders to half-hug her.

"I guess that having a killer machine from the future coming after you, has something to do with that." 

Renly chuckled and gave her shoulder a little squeeze. She had missed this. It had been over a year since she last saw him, they had always been close and Arya had to admit it was nice to have him hold her like this again.

They were sitting in his studio, while Loras and Tommen went through the BaratheonCorp database on his computer, trying to find any information on it about the cyborgs or valyrian steel, but without much success.

"It's been long since we last talked. How have you been?"

"Well, aside from all this business, I think I've been doing peachy."

Renly frowned at her not believing a single word. "Have you spoken to Sansa?" Arya said nothing, avoiding his eyes. "Arya... You can't keep blaming yourself for that car accident."

That was easy for him to say. It wasn't his fault her mother had taken the car on that rainy night. It should have been her. She was the one supposed to go pick up Sansa after her ballet class, but she had been too busy getting wasted on some lame-ass party, trying to forget about what would have been her father's 47th birthday. It was her fault that truck had jumped that red light and taken her mother's and little brothers' life instead of hers. 

"I don't want to talk about that." she mumured.

"Arya..." he tried to press.

" _Renly..._ " she mocked his same tired tone, wich only earned her a scowl.

Fortunately for her, Nymeria and Gendry came in just that same moment and Renly dropped the subject. Gendry was still wearing his black boots and that bloody scarf around his neck, but his arm was properly patched up now and he had changed into some old, slightly ripped jeans. And he was wearing a shirt for a change under that fur collared jacket he was shrugging into.

"Nice catch you got yourself there." Renly cooed so only she could hear. "Pity you had to go and ruin his face."

"Shut up!" she chastised, but Arya had to admit Gendry did look handsome, despite the bruised temple and lip, all creaned up and shaved now, and that grey shirt brought out the blue of his eyes somehow. She was especially grateful for those tight pants to be gone, they were too... distracting.

"Did you find anything?" Gendry asked no one in particular.

Arya didn't realize she had been staring until she heard Renly snigger beside her. She elbowed him hard without even sparing him a glance.

"We're trying to get into BaratheonCorp's confidential files." Loras said. "Ever since Robert died, Cersei and her father have been trying to push us out of the company, keeping all the important projects top secret. But our little geek here is a genious and will hack us into those files." he ruffled Tommen's hair, much to the boy's annoyance, who quickly smoothed it down and rearanged his glasses. 

"Is that ok with you, Tommen?" Arya asked concerned. As much as Myrcella and him favoured their uncle Renly, Cersei was still their mother.

Tommen only shrugged, not bothering to look up from his intense typing. "I've been asking mother for some time now to let me get involved in the family business, but she and grandpa believe my way of thinking is _'way too green'_." he added in a fake disgusted tone, "And with Joff as president, they are left to rule BaratheonCorp however they want. He barely bothers leaving his party yacht, and when he does it's only to restore his booze supply."

Joffrey was Robert's oldest son and rightful heir of the BaratheonCorp business, but he was an idiot and a total douche; cruel even if you asked Arya's opinion. She wouldn't be surprised if it turned out to be it was his idea to arm the cyborgs with those _'fancy guns'_ , as he would put it.

"Here it is!" Everyone moved around Tommen to look at his screen, even Nymeria, as if she too could read what it said. " _'Valyrian Steel Project: Top Secret'_ Investigation and development of high resistant metal. EXCLUSIVE aplication on Project: 'MaxD2000'."

"What's 'Project: MaxD2000'?" Renly asked.

Tommen clicked on the other file. " _'Project Maximal Defender 2000'_ " he read in a deep voice, puffing his chest out, as if he was reading the title of some grand epic movie. "Would sound cool if I wasn't a hundred and ten percent sure Joff named it..." Renly just frowned at him. Tommen cleared his throat and continued "MaxD200: Cybernetic functioned humanoid robot destined for personal defense."

"So, they really are building those killer machines..." Loras reflected.

"Not yet." Gendry answered on her right. "The first line of Terminators were actually a very successful line of cyborgs with a very simple software, they used them often to fulfill simple and dangerous tasks. The war started years later, when they replaced that software with the C-Net program, a more complicated artificial inteligence software, supposedly designed to give them a more human-like behaviour. After that is when the cyborgs started to develop their own minds and all hell broke lose."

"That sounds so cool..." Tommen whispered in absolute awe. He winced when Renly whacked him hard behind the ear not really knowing what he got hit for, but he quickly sobered and rearanged his glasses again when he noticed Gendry's murderous glare. "I mean that of course in a absolutely science-fiction-y and totally non-real-life kind of way!" he put his hands up in surrender, "Never in real life, of course! Never that. No." he gulped nervously.

He boy couldn't help himself and still mumbled, a little too loud, how they had to admit it would be cool though. Arya had to put a soothing hand over Gendry's arm so he wouldn't strangle the poor boy. "Tommen," she patted a huffing Gendry, "why don't you look up where the valyrian steel is being fabricated. If it is so difficult to produce, ther shouldn't be many places to look."

Tommen quickly went back to look it up on the first file. "The Twins, it says."

"Where is that?" Gendry asked, there was no such place where he came from.

"That lies in The Neck." Arya explained. "Going up north..." Her mind automatically flew higher on the map, almost all the way north, to Wintefell. She bit her lip feeling something pull at her heart at the mere thought of home. Nymeria felt her distress and rubbed her head comforting against Arya's leg.

"Even better than if we had planned it then." Gendry looked suddenly highly motivated and full of energy. "North is where Jon Stark said we should go."

Arya felt dread creep up her body. She had always planned on going back north someday, maybe even Winterfell, if she felt brave enough. But she had thought to do it when she was prepared and the pain of losing her family wouldn't still hurt so much. She didn't know if she was ready to go back yet.

"What's up north?" Loras' voice interrupted her thoughts.

"He never said, only that we should go North." Gendry turned towards her, touching her right shoulder lightly. "Isn't that where your family lives?"

Arya startled at his question, not entirely sure if it was more due to him asking where her family _lived_ or the way two of his fingers were burning into her skin where her red sweater had slipped off a little. Either way, she was left speechless for a moment, with him looking confused at her stupidly welling up eyes, not knowing what it was he did wrong, until Renly intervened softly and saved him from the awkwardness. "Arya has only her sister left."

Gendry seemed even more confused at that. He was still looking at her, pondering deeply in that way that seemed to hurt him, but his hand was slipping slowly from her shoulder taking all his warmth with it, and Arya found herself wishing he would only put it back there where it belonged.

Thank the Gods, Tommen was about as smooth as a bulldozer and interrupted them before she could embarrass herself by doing something terribly stupid like taking Gendry's hand and make him hold her.

"Hey, Gen. Buddy. Friend. Comrade." He patted Gendry's arm insistently to get his attention. It was needless to say that the man in question was not very thrilled by that and rolled his eyes pointedly at the boy. He got even more annoyed when Tommen started to fondle his upper arm with a little too much enthusiasm. "Wow, dude! Now that's what I call a strong bicep!" Arya fought not to laugh when Gendry wrenched his arm away glaring. "Sorry... I only have one little question. If you're here now to warn us and you two succeed in destroying that valyrian steel fabric, wouldn't that mean your future will never exist? I mean the mere presence of you and that Terminator here is already altering the storyline."

That was a good question, Arya thought. If BaratheonCorp never got to produce those Terminators, all those horrible things Gendry had told her about his future would never take place. And that would be a very good thing, wouldn't it? She looked up at him with excitement expecting a similar reaction, but Gendry didn't seem delighted at all. 

"My future does already exist." His face was all sad with a grim smile on his lips. "Whatever we do now in your time will not change anything of what already happened in mine. Nothing can undo all the death and destruction..."

Arya felt the sudden need to comfort him and didn't hesitate to take his hand in hers this time and give it a reasuring squeeze, not caring if Loras or Renly saw her. Gendry's lips quirked up a little at the gesture, the distant look gone from his blue eyes as she felt his thumb run softly over her knuckles. 

"The only thing we can hope for is to create a different future. One more peaceful, where our children can grow up happy and without fear."

Myrcella came in that moment carrying a big tray with coffe and a plate full of cookies.

"You're lucky you're already at Storm's End, guys. Edric just called me from his sister's house and apparently there is a freak walking around Kingswood who thinks it's still Halloween." Everyone behind the computer froze but she didn't notice, to busy laying out the cups on the table for them. "Shireen saw him herself and says he is _huge_ , with the most amazing make-up job she's ever seen, like someone had blown off his face or something."

Nymeria started to growl beside them and Arya looked up at Gendry with worry. If the Terminator was coming down Kingswood, it would mean that somehow he knew where they were and that he was coming after them.

She felt really bad for what she was about to say but they couldn't afford staying any longer. Myrcella had been very kind and gone through all the trouble to prepare all this for them, and now Arya was going to turn her homemade cookies down. "I'm really grateful for all this, Cella, but I fear Gendry and I really need to go now."

Myrcella looked half heartbroken when she looked up and saw Arya already hurrying to put on her jacket. "But I just got these cookies out of the oven..." Arya wished they could stay a little longer but she just couldn't risk putting her friends' lives in danger too.

Renly understood their hurry and smoothly intervened on their behalf. "Myrcella, darling. I'm sure Arya and Gendry would all too gladly stick around a little longer and taste your wonderful cookies, but I fear they have already offered us more time than they could spare."

She still looked a little dissapointed but seemed to accept the argument well enough. "Alright... But at least let me pack you some things for along the way."

\-----

Gendry had brought their car up to the Baratheon's driveway and Loras and Tommen were helping him load some of Robert's old hunting guns into the trunk now. Arya and Renly were watching Nymeria run around the gardens while they waited for Myrcella. 

"I know it's needless for me to say this but you take good care of yourselves, alright?" Arya was trying hard not to get squeezed to death by Renly's goodbye hug. "And you call me if you need any reiforcements or anything, you hear me?"

"I promise." She patted his back awkwardly. "Fuck, Renly. _You're choking me!_ " He finally let go of her and Arya gasped for air. She knew he was trying hard not to cry, but there was a traitorous little tear in the corner of his eye. "We will be carefuI and Gendry knows these Terminators well enough, so don't worry. He and Nymeria will take good care of me."

He looked up at Gendry and the others finishing packing the car with a devious smile. "Before you leave, there's something I need to give you."

Arya waited curious while he searched for something in his pocket and pushed a strip of plastic into her hand. She frantically threw it away as far as possible as soon as she realized what it was. " _I don't fucking need those!_ " she whispered beet red.

"What don't you need?" She literally jumped as a clueless Gendry appeared behind her just that instant. Renly, of course, had nothing better to do than laugh at her flustering self.

"Nothing!" she said a little too loud, her face burning. "Renly is just being stupid!"

And of course, Nymeria had to finish her off and chose the exact moment that Loras and Tommen joined them to retrieve the stripe of condoms from where it had landed somewhere between the bushes. Arya quickly ripped the strip from the shepherd dog's mouth, pushing it quickly back into Renly's pocket, before anyone could see it and she would actually die from embarrassment. But it was already too late.

"Ewwwww... Please, guys. Keep it PG here! There are minors present for the Gods' sake!" Tommen protested pulling a face.

Loras whacked him hard behind the head. "You're nineteen, you morron."

Thankfully for Arya, the last thing they seemed to worry about in the future was birthcontrol and Gendry still looked on confused and clueless between their whole interaction just now.

Myrcella came finally out carrying two bags for them. "I packed some of the cookies and other food for you to eat along the way. And this other one has some of your old clothes, from when you used to come over and spend some nights here." Arya accepted the bags and hugged her gratefully.

Next, Myrcella moved to Gendry and they both seemed to hesitate for a moment, unsure of what to say or what to do.

"Would it be too much to ask for if I'd give you an awkward hug now?" she asked him finally, blushing a little. Gendry just smiled fondly at her and maneuvered his big arms carefully around her pregnant belly to give her a long tight hug. Arya felt almost envious watching them, if it weren't for the beautiful picture they made and for what she knew this meant for them.

There were tears in Myrcella's eyes when they finally broke appart. "I'm sorry I'm crying all over you." She tried to smooth out Gendry's wet shirt embarrassed. "This pregnancy has me crying about the silliest little things."

Gendry gently brushed a tear from her face. "It's all right. I bet you'll have a strong and beautiful daughter."

Myrcella tilted her head frowning curiously. "How did you know it's a girl?"

Gendry only smiled rubbing his hand lovingly over her belly. "Just a feeling, is all."

"Can I have a hug too, Gen?" Tommen asked sheepish.

For one moment Arya feared Gendry would finally whack the boy for annoying him their whole stay here. She had to admit that Tommen could get a little too effusive sometimes, but she knew that was only because he really liked Gendry. She guessed that for Tommen, he was something like one of those superheroes from the future in one of his sci-fi stories.

In the end Gendry just grabbed Tommen under his big arm and ruffled his head affectionately. "You take good care of your sister, and maybe I'll let you hit something with my hammer next time I come around, alright?"

Tommen's face beamed with joy at the prospect and nodded enthusiastically. Arya felt something like pride pull at her heart watching the scene.

The last to say his goodbyes to him was Renly. "I trust you will take good care of her." Gendry nodded sternly. "When you're done with that machine, you come back to me. My brother, Stannis, and I will make sure those cyborgs never see the day of light. I promise you that much." He held his hand out for him to shake.

Gendry took it firmly, full of new hope. "I would be really grateful for that."

Arya gave Loras and Renly one last quick hug before leaving. "I'll call you as soon as it is safe."

She let Nymeria in first into the backseat and then climbed into the passanger seat. Gendry started the engine and drove through the gates while Arya looked back through the window one last time.

"Don't worry. They will be fine." Gendry reassured her. "The Terminator won't harm them. They are Baratheons, and somehow involved in his creation too. He can't risk doing anything that could endanger his future existence."

She only hoped he was right and they weren't just driving toward that killer cyborg for nothing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLEASE refrain from spoilery comments so as to not spoil readers that don't know how the story goes ;)  
> It's a pity AO3 has no PM options..... or is it just that I don't know how to enable it?


	6. On The Road Again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I struggled soooo much with this chapter!
> 
> I had the different parts already written down, but then they just wouldn't flow together afterwards... Not to mention that all this writing things that already happened but not really because they take place in the future has driven me nuts...
> 
> In the end I it turned out huuuuge (compared to the, others that is), so I decided to post it in two parts.

They had been driving for more than three hours now and it was already starting to get dark in the Riverlands.

Gendry had taken the first shift, driving from Storm's End back up the King's Road to King's Landing. That way they would make sure the Terminator would follow their car as soon as he caught a glimpse of them. 

Gendry had insisted he'd drive the first stretch. If things got ugly, they had a better chance of escaping the cyborg. He had more experience with the terminators' pursuit methods, and Arya knew her way around the guns well enough to cover their backs.

They only stopped for a moment as soon as they passed King's Landing, for them to change seats so Arya could drive. She knew these roads much better than him and that way they could use the less transited secondary roads, making it harder for the Terminator to spot them. 

They had spend most of her shift in silence, with him cleaning all the guns Renly gave them thoroughly. Arya could see he had much practice in doing it. Taking them apart, cleaning every little inch and putting them together again in record time, only to check them over and over again afterwards, to make sure they all worked perfectly for when they were needed to be used.

When he was done and satisfied with his work, he tucked the guns back into the duffel bag and shoved it onto the backside beside Nymeria, ruffling her head affectionately. Only then did he finally relax a little.

He was playing with some small, horned figurine he had fished out of one of his pockets. 

"What's that?"

He smiled proudly at the little thing. "It's called a _stag_." 

Arya almost laughed at the way he said it, as if he was testing how the word sounded coming out of his mouth, but then she remembered what he had told her about his devastated future and the way he had looked at the paintings in the Baratheon mansion and realized that maybe he'd actually never seen a living stag. 

"Myrcella gave it to me."

Arya smiled a little, understanding why he liked the figurine so much. 

"She's your mother..."

"Yes. I guess so..." He took a deep breath and then smiled a little. "I've never considered I'd meet someone from my past. I mean, I don't even exist yet." He laughed at the absurdness of it all. 

Maybe now he could understand how she had felt that first time he'd told her he was from the future and that her son had send him to protect her.

"I'm happy you got to see your mother again." 

Truth was she felt a little envious of him too.

Arya wished she could also go back in time and see her mother. Maybe she too would still be young and beautiful, without those weary lines on her face that appeared only after Arya's father died. And there would be no grey invading her long red mane, only fiery curls flowing loosely down her back, just like Sansa had worn her own beautiful hair last time she saw her.

 _'Sansa...'_

She had been thinking about calling her sister again, and not just because Renly had suggested her to do so. She genuinely missed Sansa. And this time, Arya promised herself she wouldn't be so stupid and just comform herself with only hearing her sister's voice. No. She would call her, and as soon as Sansa picked up the phone she would tell her that she too did love her, so very much, and that she promised she would go visit her and the boys with Nymeria very soon.

She bet Sansa was worried sick about her too. If Renly had been that anxious after seeing those girls on the news, she couldn't even begin to imagine what her sister must be feeling, especially after the police told her about her appartment and what happened to Jeyne and Ramsay.

Arya had almost asked Gendry to stop by her telephone booth earlier, when they had driven past it, and let her make that call, but instinct told her that was a bad idea.

They still had no clue about how the Terminator had found out they were at Storm's End, and if it was because he had used that C-Net software of his to hack into some kind of security system like Tommen had done with BaratheonCorp, it would be all too easy for him to intercept her call to Sansa and track down their location in no time. 

Or what was worse, he could go to the Vale instead, thinking that she and Gendry where headed there, and hurt Sansa and the boys. And she was not about to risk that. She would rather wait until all this was over and they were all safe.

"You've been awfully quiet." Gendry observed.

"Just been thinking, is all..." She had been biting her lip hard without realizing it. "Do you really think we can destroy that machine? That we can change the future?"

"It's not impossible." He put the figurine back into its pocket, that same pocket on his chest where she had seen him tuck away that picture he had been looking at in the morning. "If we destroy the valyrian steel factory and the Baratheons really keep their word and never build the cyborgs, it is very probable. We shouldn't take anything for granted though."

Arya nodded. If there was even the slightest chance to save her world, then she was willing to take it. 

"When all this is over, we could ask Tommen to help us find a way to destroy the other Terminators and save your world too." 

He was quiet for a moment and rubbed a hand over his mouth before speaking. 

"That's very thoughtful of you but... Time-travel only works one way." 

Her eyes snapped up from the road to look at him. He was glancing at her sideways too with his head low, trying to gauge her reaction. 

"I can't go back, Arya..." 

She had to let the car slow down until it came to a halt on one side of the road. She didn't really know what to say to that. If he couldn't go back, that would mean he was stuck here in her time forever. Leaving behind everything he ever knew.

"You'll never be able to see the people you care about again..." Arya realized mournful. 

She knew all too well what that felt like and she wouldn't want to wish that pain on anyone. Much less him.

"There's not much left for me there anyway, except from Jon..." he smiled bitterly.

But this was all her fault. If it wasn't for her stupid self needing to be saved, he would never have ended up being stranded here.

And she had been so selfish too, she realized now, pretending she was all alone in this world when truth was she could still go see Sansa whenever she wanted, as soon as she decided to grow a pair and stopped being stupid. But Gendry didn't even have that option.

"Hey... It's alright." She felt him take her hand gently and realized there were tears running down her face. "Jon did actually do me a favour. This world is much better than mine, really." he added before she could continue to blame herself.

Arya wiped one side of her face with her free hand, feeling a little better. At least he was right about that and he got away from that infernal place.

"Besides, I-I..." he suddenly started nervously. "I always wanted to meet the legendary Arya Stark."

She snorted through her tears at how absurd that adjective was to describe her.

"Well, sorry for being a total dissapointment. I don't think there's anything _legendary_ about this stupid girl. I've done nothing but cry so far." She rubbed the other side of her face a little more vigorously to make a point. 

"It's alright to cry." He stopped her furious hand and carefuly wiped away the rest of her tears. "That has nothing to do with how brave a person is."

"I highly doubt your much admired Jon Stark would consider standing frozen in fear before that Terminator as being brave." she scoffed, looking away embarrassed.

"Anyone in your situation would have been scared." He cradled her head with his hand again to make her look at him. "But instead of cowering and looking away, you stood your ground and looked death straight in the eye. I don't know what Jon would think, but I do believe that is being very brave."

Arya smiled a little at him sniffling. "You really think that?" 

Gendry nodded. "Jon had this saying, that a man could only be brave when he was scared."

She smiled with melancholy, knowing exactly whom Jon must have learned that from. "My father taught me that..."

"I bet he was a very wise man." He smiled gently wiping away the new tears that had sprung to her eyes. "And I think you're the bravest woman I've ever met, Arya Stark."

She blushed at that and when she looked back into his eyes she suddenly realized how close they really were. 

He was cradling her head with both his hands now, drawing little circles on her cheeks with his thumbs, his face only inches way from hers. And his blue eyes were watching her with such intensity, she thought they would burn her. 

Something was telling her that maybe now was a good time to put some distance between them, but then the tip of his tongue darted out to moisten his bruised lip nervously and she found herself leaning even closer instead, her own lips parting slightly and her eyes fluttering close on their own accord, bracing herself for whatever came next.

A loud yawn from the backseat made them both jump appart instantly. 

Arya had pressed herself flatly against her door in shock, holding a hand over her wildly beating heart, not really knowing what had just happened. Gendry was not much better, his knuckles white from gripping the handle of his hammer so hard, until he looked back and realized what the sound had been.

Nymeria did not look happy, _at all_ , that they both had completely forgotten about her.

" _Shit_ , Nymeria. I nearly had a heart attack." Arya scolded with relief.

Nymeria pushed herself between the two frontseats, wiggling her tail, to lick Arya's face in forgiveness. She wanted to stay angry at the dog for scaring them like that, but Nym's stomach rumbled loudly and Arya just ruffled her behind the ears, accepting the apology. 

"You're just hungry, aren't you, girl?"

Nymeria grumbled in agreement pushing herself complety into Arya's lap, pressing herself closer to Arya's body for the girl to comfort her.

Gendry laughed amused at the picture they made, with Arya's petite form holding the big dog lovingly to herself, as if Nymeria were a little puppy. Arya also laughed realizing what they must look like.

Their eyes met and they both blushed remebering what had almost just happened between them.

Gendry cleared his throat awkwardly, finally letting go of his hammer. "Maybe we should call it a day and get something to eat. Maybe get a few hours of rest."

Nymeria barked in agreement quickly jumping back onto her place in the backseat, ready to go, leaving a blushing Arya all alone in her seat. 

She shifted uncomfortably back into a driving position and led the car back onto the road. 

"There's a motel a little further ahead. Maybe we could get a room there and a proper night of sleep." She suddenly blushed all over again realizing that there would be a _bed_ in that room. "I-if you think that's safe, that is." 

Arya wanted to kick herself for suddenly getting all stupid at the mere thought of him and her, _alone_ , in a room. As if they hadn't already slept huddled together the night before with him half naked.

Gendry didn't seem to notice her train of thought and continued nonchalantly. "We would need money for that, right?" He rummaged through his jeans for something and pulled out a handful of crumpled one hundred dragons notes. 

"For the Gods' sake! Put that away!" Arya almost completely let go of the wheel in her hurry to push his hand away from the windshield sight, before anyone could see all that money, although they were all alone on that road. "Where did you get all that?"

"Loras gave it to me in exchange for my dragon suit." Gendry said not understanding what all the fuss was about. "Isn't this enough?"

"That is way more than enough." Arya said a little calmer. It was obvious that it had all been Renly's idea to take advantage of Gendry's ignorance and use his flashy pants as an excuse to give them all that money, knowing exactly that she would have refused it. "You can't just walk around showing all that money or there will be more than just a Terminator after us."

"But this is just paper." Gendry said still confused.

"Believe me, im my world that is not _'just paper'_." She could understand that they might not have much use for money in his future, but she was sure she could have paid a whole year of her rent and more with all that money Loras gave him. "Just give me one of those and let me do the talking, alright?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry, I won't let you wait until next sunday for the next chapter. I'm editing it right now and hope to post it sometime during the next few days. ;)


	7. The Inn of The Kneeling Man

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Didn't make you wait too long, did I?  
> Things get _interesting_ in this one. ;)

In the end it had taken them more than just hundred dragons, and Arya's sweetest smile, to convince the owner of 'The Kneeling Man' to rent them a room for the night. 

He had looked them up and down suspiciously, not really liking what he was seeing, and glowering a little extra long at Gendry's bruised face and the big duffel bag he was carrying. Arya couldn't really blame the man. She guessed that with her dirty clothes and Gendry's muscular bouncer frame they didn't exactly look like the perfect customers.

But they were already here now, and she had already made plans with that room that involved her own tired limbs and a blazing hot shower, and she had to confess that her back would really appreciate that stupid bed. So she mustered the sweetest smile she knew and pushed another extra note through the counter, before the glaring contest between Gendry and the owner could escalate any further. The man had looked happy enough after that and didn't even mind if they kept Nymeria in their room or not.

The room was actually like a small apartment. It was no big deal, with a very little kitchenette and no TV, but at least it was clean and the hot water worked. The bed looked comfortable enough for Arya's taste, and Gendry liked how the small table with seats was right beside the big window, making it easier for him to keep an eye out for the Terminator and watch their car parked right outside the door. 

The first thing he did after surveying the room was to put down the duffel bag beside the table and peek out the window from behind the curtains, no doubt thinking out all the possible escape ways.

"You go take that shower. I'll feed Nymeria and take care of the rest."

He didn't need to tell her twice.

Arya shrugged out of her jacket and dropped the food bag unceremoniously on the table, dashing with Myrcella's clothes to lock herself into the bathroom. She quickly got rid of the rest of her garments and climbed into the shower, sighing contently as the warm water finally hit her.

It had been all too long since she had last had a true moment to herself and she decided to take her time washing her hair and scrubbing all the dirt from her skin.

She couldn't believe how easy her life had really been only until a few days ago, when the worst thing that could happen to her was that she wouldn't be able to pay her bills at the end of the month because she had been fired from the grill after finally losing her temper and trying to throttle one of the customers to death. 

And now, look at her... Driving north through the vast woods of the Riverlands, running for her life, with some hi-tech killer machine from the future after her that wanted to exterminate her existence.

Thank the Gods she had Nymeria and Gendry with her, or she would start to think she was going crazy.

 _'Gendry...'_

She couldn't believe she had almost kissed him not even an hour ago. 

She didn't know what it was about him, but there was something that just drawed her to him. And it didn't even have to do with physical attraction. She had felt it ever since the moment she had looked up and saw him trying to hide across that street. 

It felt almost like they were always meant to meet each other, although they both belonged to complete different worlds.

Ever since her father died, it had become more and more difficult for her to open up to new people, but somehow that was also different with Gendry. She just _knew_ she could trust him. And somehow that confused her to no end.

_'You're just being stupid, is all...'_

She shut down the water and stepped out of the shower to get dressed.

Nymeria was snoring loudly on a carpet beside the bed when Arya came back out of the bathroom toweling her hair. She stepped over Nym's full belly to tuck the dirty clothes away into her bag.

Gendry was sitting by the window, the hand he had his scarf bound around his wrist touching his hammer absentmindedly, and other materials layed out in front of him on the table. But he wasn't paying attention to any of them. He was deep in thought looking at that picture again.

She wondered whoever it was on that photograph for him to be so secretive about it. She guessed it must be someone very important to him, and somehow that made Arya feel a little anxious. 

His face softened and he sighed when he looked up and noticed her standing there. She took that, and the fact that he didn't try to hide the picture from her again, as an invitation to get a little closer. 

Although she wished she hadn't when she finally got a glimpse of it.

It looked very old and was already fading at the corners, but she could still clearly make out a woman with a dark haired little boy.

_'I'm so stupid. Of course someone like him would already have someone...'_

She bit her lip turned back to her bag rubbing her hair, trying to hide her face. 

"Is that your kid?" She hoped the pang of jealousy that hit her wasn't too plain on her voice.

Gendry was quiet for a moment, only getting up from his table to step closer to her. She could feel her cheeks burn at his proximity and bit her lip hard, wishing he would just say something so she wouldn't have to feel so _stupid_.

"It's yours actually."

Arya's head snapped up to look at him, dropping the towel she was holding. 

He was smiling softly with an expression she couldn't quite read, offering his hand out for her to take the picture.

Arya just stared at it, hesitating, not knowing if she wanted to see it anymore. 

She looked up to Gendry, biting down harder on her lip, searching for any indication for what she should do. He stepped a little closer and gently took her trembling hand to put the fading old thing in her palm.

Her breath caught when she finally saw the scene before her.

They were in a familiar looking garden, with Nymeria playing somewhere in the faded background. Arya looked a bit older, with her hair done in a braid, and she was wearing one of those stupid bright summer dresses Sansa liked so much. She didn't seem to mind though and was even _smiling_ , smiling like she hadn't done in _years_ , holding the young boy to herself like he meant the world to her.

And little Jon was the most beautiful boy Arya had ever seen. With his adoring smile sitting in her lap and playing with her braid. His own raven hair was all undone and he had a scraped knee, with mud all over his face and clothes.

They both looked exactly like she imagined she and her father must have looked like when she was a child. But it was his familiar cheeky grin that made Arya's heart ache the most.

"He looks so much like Jon." Arya smiled running a loving finger over her future son's face. She could already feel something warm start to clutch at her heart, and the intensity of it almost scared her. 

She had never thought that anyone, much less a little boy, could ever make her feel as happy again as she looked on Gendry's picture, and cure the growing loneliness she had felt ever since her father died six years ago.

"I guess that's why you named him after your favourite brother." Arya nodded, because of course there could be no better name for her son. "I think he looks more like you, though. The way your eyes crinkle when you smile is just the same." 

Gendry chuckled softly as Arya brought her hand up to her cheek and found there were indeed little wrinkles there.

"I guess it doesn't matter anyway, since Jon always said that you and your brother looked very much alike."

Arya frowned at him in confusion. "How would he know that?" 

"Isn't it true?"

"Well, yes. But there is no way he could have known that."

Now it was Gendry that looked confused. "Why not?"

"Because..." Arya bit her lip. She didn't want to talk about this, it still hurt too much. "Because Jon is dead..."

"That's impossible..." Gendry looked even more confused now, and what he said next only served to make her mad. "Is that why Renly said you had only your sister left?"

"He said that because it's true!" How could he think anyone would ever lie about something like that? "Jon disappeared a few years ago north of the Wall!"

Gendry thought hard for a moment. From what he knew, this was not how things went. And then his face lit up in realisation. 

"But they never found his body, right?"

"What does that even matter now?!" Arya cried, feeling only more edgy at his words. "He is still dead! I don't want to talk about it!" 

She turned away angry at him and fighting the new wave of tears that threatened to spill from her eyes.

Gendry cursed himself for not realizing what he was causing with his words. He never meant to upset her and make her cry, but of course she didn't know what he knew.

"Arya..." He gently tried to coax her to look at him, but she yanked her arm away from his touch. "Arya, I'm sorry." He tried again, this time taking hold of her wrist, only to have her slap his arm off of her furious. "Arya, please, just listen to me. Jon Snow is alive."

She turned around livid, already raising her fist to punch him hard across his already bruised face. "How _dare_ you!" But this time he caught it just before it could collide with his jaw. He barely had time to catch her other hand, when that one too came in flying trying to hit him. "You _liar_!"

She tried to wrench herself out of his grip, but he was just too strong, shifting his hold on her until he had both of her slim wrists secured in only one of his big hands. 

"I swear it's true, Arya! Jon Snow was the first Lord Commander of the Resistance." He used his free hand to point at the old photograph she was still holding. "He was the one who took this picture of you and Jon. He is still alive."

Arya didn't even bother a glance, breathing hard as she continued to squirm in his grasp. 

" _Please_ , Arya. Just look at it. Look at the dog in the background." 

She suddenly staggered backwards when he loosened his grip on her so she could examine the photograph more closely. He lifted both his hands up in surrender, but she was still not too happy about the gesture and glared at him intently before straightening herself and finally looking down at the faded area where Nymeria was.

She frowned when she noticed that the dog's fur didn't exactly match Nymeria's colors.

Her Nym's fur was of a rich brown with a dark saddle along her back, like most german shepherds were, but this dog's fur was much lighter, of an almost silvery color. She had first thought it was due to the picture being old and worn, but now she realized it was a complete different dog.

" _Ghost..._ " 

Her eyes widened in surprise. She couldn't believe she didn't recognize him sooner. 

Just as Arya and Nymeria were nigh inseparables, neither did Jon and his dog Ghost part from each other for very long. And that could only mean that Gendry was telling the truth, and her brother had been somewhere close to her when the picture was taken.

Arya let out a small shaky laugh, not really knowing what she was feeling anymore.

"But... But how can this be...?"

"I don't know," Gendry stepped closer, pleased to have made her happy, and wiped a stray tear from her face. "but I think Jon wanted us to go north to reunite with your brother."

She shook her head slowly, still not believing what she was hearing.

All these years she had thought that she and Sansa were the only ones left of her family, and now it not only turned out that Jon was still alive, safe and sound someplace north, but she also knew that she would eventually see him sometime soon.

The thought of reuniting her small family again made her feel so full of joy that even the idea of adding a new member, a little person of her own, didn't feel so scary anymore. On the contrary. The thought was really starting to warm up to her now.

And all that was thanks to Gendry.

Gendry, who was smiling at her with so much affection in his blue eyes, the same blue eyes her beautiful little Jon had in the picture she was holding. That smile made her feel as if all the sorrow she had been holding in all over these years, simply faded away.

Arya only wanted to do one thing as she looked into those smiling blue eyes.

She straightened herself up until she was on her tiptoes and closed the distance between them.

His lips were warm and soft. Too surprised at first to respond to hers, but firm and eager once he realized she was really kissing him.

He tilted his head down just enough to make it easier for her to reach his mouth, running his hands down her sides slowly until they both came to a rest on each side of her waist.

Arya hooked her arms behind his neck to pull him closer so she could press herself flush against his broad chest.

She could feel his hands on her hips open and close with restraint and ran her tongue over his bottom lip hoping it would encourage him to give in.

Gendry moaned in appreciation, squeezing her waist tighter, but leaned his face back enough to escape her mouth. 

Arya opened her eyes, confused with his mixed signs. His eyes were dark with want, but he had a pained expression on his face. 

Maybe she had read this all wrong and he didn't feel the same way than her.

"I'm sorry. I just... I thought-" She tried to put some distance between them embarrassed, but he was still holding her hips.

"Don't... You did nothing wrong." Gendry reassured her and she relaxed in his hold again. "I really liked kissing you, but..."

"But what?" she asked softly, playing nervously with the collar of his shirt.

Gendry was searching her face for something she didn't know what. 

"Arya..." He brushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear, leaving his hand there, brushing her cheek gently with his thumb. "Do you really want this?"

She knew that what he actually meant was, if she was willing to face everything that came along with them being together; the small boy in the picture and a more than uncertain future. 

She had to admit that both things still scared her, but she had already made up her mind.

"Yes. I do want this." She smiled at him, covering his hand on her cheek with her own. "I want to be with you." She kissed him once on the mouth firmly, trailing little kisses from there to his neck, all along his jaw. "I want to feel you inside me."

Gendry kissed her hard this time, the hand on the small of her back pressing her tightly against his body. She moaned into his mouth when she felt just how much he wanted her too.

His shirt came off easily enough, so she could explore the many scars on the hard planes of his muscles. It was far harder to concentrate on unbuttoning her own shirt when he was sucking on that spot under her ear like that.

"You smell so good..." Gendry whispered nuzzling her hair.

Arya ripped the last few buttons open, too impatient to wait any longer to feel his bare chest against her skin. She quickly unclasped her bra, throwing it somewhere near Nymeria, and shrugged out of her pants, standing before him in only her underwear.

Her breath caught at the way he was looking at her and she shuddered when Gendry brought up a hand to caress one of her breast, clutching the back of his head tightly when he bend down to kiss the other one.

"You're so beautiful..."

She pulled him up for another deep kiss and helped him to get rid of his own jeans.

Arya had to laugh when they finally fell on the bed naked and Gendry slightly startled at the wobbly sensation of the mattress, his movements becoming suddenly a little clumsy.

"I've never used a featherbed." he confessed a bit embarrassed.

"It's easy." She hooked a leg around his and ran a hand down his broad back, positioning him right where she wanted him. "You just have to hold on to me."

He groaned at their contact and kissed her one last time before pushing inside of her.

Arya gasped at the sensation, digging her nails into his bandaged arm. Gendry misinterpreted the gesture and froze above her worried.

"'M sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"You didn't." She shifted a little under him to acomodate him better and felt another wave of pleasure run through her. "Just kiss me."

And he did, again and again. First her lower lip then the upper, nipping at her chin and sucking on that spot on her neck that made her shiver, fisting one of his hands in her hair. His other hand had a strong and yet gentle hold on her thigh as he moved inside of her.

Arya let her hands run over his muscular chest, down his abdomen and back up to his strong shoulders to entwine them in his hair, looking all the while into his eyes.

She shuddered a little, bringing him down for another searing kiss. "Gen..."

He groaned moving a little faster, causing her to clutch his hair tighter as she arched off the bed whimpering.

"...rya..."

She moved her legs up to hug his hips, feeling the throbbing sensation in her belly coming to a peak.

"Arya..."

The world could burn, for all she cared, as long as he kept saying her name like that.

" _...Arya..._ "

Gendry rolled off her when it was over, bringing her close to lay on his chest. She kept her eyes closed while they caught their breaths, simply enjoying the warm feeling of him underneath her.

She opened them again when she felt him kiss the crown of her head, pulling the covers up and draping an arm around her back to fight off the chill of the night. She happily huddled closer and pushed a few sweaty locks from his blue eyes.

He was looking at her with that endearing look again and she couldn't help but blush against his chest.

"What is it?" he asked amused, brushing her hair behind her shoulder trying to see her face.

She smiled shyly, feeling a bit stupid at her own embarrassment, especially now after the moment they just shared.

"Just... No one has ever held me like you do. With so much strength and yet so much gentleness." she confessed timidly, playing with a peculiarly odd-looking scar on his forearm, right below his scarf.

He chuckled fondly bending down to give her a short kiss. 

"And I've never felt this way about anyone before."

Arya beamed at him, knowing that he was being honest and pulled him down for another, longer, deeper kiss.

They broke apart when Nymeria decided to jump on the mattress to steal a little corner at the foot of their bed, to settle for the night.

" _Rude_ , Nym." Arya protested for interrupting them.

"Let her." Gendry just kept on kissing whatever part of her he could reach. "She'll be no bother there."

Arya let him kiss her, loving how understanding he always was with Nymeria.

She leaned away a little to see his face when she asked him something that had been worrying her.

"When all this is over..." she started tentatively, "Would you like to come with me to visit my sister?"

It was sort of implied that he would go with her to look for her brother Jon, but she didn't know what he planned on doing afterwards.

Gendry was serious for a moment, watching her while he absentmindedly played with her hair.

"Would you really want me to stay with you?"

Arya would never have thought she would see him being insecure about anything. He always seemed so confident about everything he did, bording on stubbornness sometimes even. But she guessed that for him this was a much bigger move, since he would have to adapt to a whole new different world than his.

"Of course I want you to stay with me." She softly touched his face, trying to caress away the worried lines on his brow. "This is not just a fling to me. You're very important to me. I would like for us to be family."

Gendry smiled broadly, more than happy that she would even want him with her, what more wanting him to be part of her family. 

"I would really love that."

It was Arya's turn to smile as she kissed him deeply, pushing at his shoulder to roll him onto his back.

"I would go anywhere with you Arya Stark." he barely managed to mumble out before she climbed atop him and they continued kissing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Our babies are working hard to make their own baby! :'D


	8. The Calm Before The Storm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't even know what happened in this one...  
> Last chapter, I left out a scene in which we learn how Gendry and Jon met. It didn't quite fit anywhere, so I decided to add it in this one.  
> In my mind, it was just a small and very simple scene, but apparently Gendry didn't think so... lol
> 
> The same as I have no idea about guns, I don't have any idea about bombs either (and frankly, I'm too lazy to google it) So... if by chance I got anything right, I guess I'll have to thank whatever I remember from my ( _very_ ) old lab classes and Hollywood lol

Gendry had been awake for a while, too many things going through his head to sleep, but too loathe to leave the bed with Arya's soft body curled around him. He had been laying there, comfortable and warm, just watching her while she slept on his chest, still not believing how lucky he was to have her in his life.

It was still dark outside their room, but he knew that soon the sun would start to rise and they would have to get going. 

He forced himself to untangle her limbs from his body to get dressed and climb out of the bed, pulling the covers back up around her so the cold wouldn't seep in and she could sleep a little while longer.

He moved to the table, where he had laid out the materials the night before to prepare the bombs. He had only managed to finish one before he got too distracted looking at Jon's picture of Arya.

He had been so busy trying to ignore his feelings for her that he didn't even realize that it had been Jon's intention all along to bring them both together. It was so obvious to him now that he wanted to kick himself.

Gendry scoffed at how ironic all this was. 

All these years, Jon and him had joked about how they could be brothers or something, for how much they looked alike, and now it turns out that he had been his father all along. 

But how could Gendry have possibly known that? He had always been younger than Jon, always looking up to him, always hoping to be as strong and brave as he was someday.

He had felt like a true creep that first time Jon had put that picture of his mother into his hands and he couldn't for the life of him stop looking at how beautiful Arya was, to the point of having eyes for no one else.

He heard her stir on the bed as he was filling the third tube with the explosive powder. He smiled when he looked up and saw her trying to cuddle Nymeria closer to herself, to gain back some of the warmth she'd lost when Gendry left the bed.

He found himself wanting now more than ever to destroy that M-800, so he could give her that family she wanted. 

He had never considered it an option to have kids before, his world was just too cruel for that. But now, here, with Arya, he would do anything in his power to ensure their Jon grew up in a safe and peaceful world.

He just had to finish making these bombs to blow up that factory and then help Renly and his brother to make sure BaratheonCorp never got to build those Terminators. Only then would he allow himself to start to think about their future together.

" _...Gendry?_ " Arya's sleepy voice came from the bed.

"Here. By the table."

He carefully screwed close the end-cap of the pipe and watched as she waddled toward him half-asleep holding the warm comforter tightly around her body.

"What are you doing?" He moved so she could slide onto his lap comfortably and press a sloppy kiss to his neck. "Come back to bed."

He would all too gladly comply feeling her warm curves against him, go back to that bed and lose himself inside her once more, but he knew he had to finish preparing the tubes. 

He waved a hand behind her neck to capture her lips, trailing lower to suck that spot on her throat that made her sigh.

"It's no fair to do that if you don't intend on going any further..." Arya feebly protested, holding him a little tighter to herself.

Gendry chuckled softly, pressing one last kiss to her lips before leaning away.

"I'm sorry. But I really need to finish these." Arya groaned grumpily, turning to hide her tired face in the crook of his neck, making Gendry chuckle some more. "You could help me finish sooner, though."

Arya shifted toward the table yawning, smoothing a few loose strands of hair behind her ear to concentrate on her task.

"I'll help you through the first one and then you'll do your own, alright?" 

Arya nodded as Gendry handed her one of the empty pipes and one of the caps that had already a fuse attached to it.

"First you screw this end on, so when you fill it with the powder, it surrounds the fuse completely." He handed her the small measuring cup with the explosive powder. "Now fill the tube slowly." He watched as Arya worked intently, doing as he instructed. 

"You'll want to leave a finger or so to the top to let it breathe when it explodes." She stopped when there was only space for almost two of her thinner fingers and handed him back the cup. "Now take one of the simple caps and screw it close carefully."

She made to do so nonchalantly but he stopped her putting his hand over hers just when she was about to screw it on. She looked at him confused, not knowing where she went wrong. It was an easy enough task, she thought.

"You have to be _very_ careful with this part." Gendry insisted very serious. "If there is any powder left on the screw, you could blow us all up with just the friction of closing the cap."

Arya gulped and nodded in understanding, letting him clean the borders with a wet cloth first, and then finally screwed the end-cap on very carefully, just as he'd told her.

"Now you only have to roll it over the table a little so the powder evens out inside," he said as he flattened her palm to show her exactly how to do it, "and there you go. Your own homemade bomb." 

"I've always wanted to do this as a kid." Arya said a little too excited handing it to him. "My dad wouldn't even let me near the chemicals the times he took me with him to the lab."

Gendry laughed at the image of a little Arya trying to touch everything excitedly. "I wonder why that is."

She elbowed him in protest, only making him laugh harder. 

She noticed that odd scar on his forearm again when he put the tube they just made together with the other finished ones. She touched it softly as he handed her another empty pipe and a cap.

"Where did you get this?"

It was strange enough, looking more like a burn mark than anything, and if she followed the marks up to his wrist, she could feel little number-shaped-like scars right under his scarf.

Gendry winced at the memory, watching as she started to prepare her own tube.

"After Mya died, I moved from place to place, working in any refugee town I came across, hoping to get closer to the Resistance." He handed her the measuring cup as he continued. "There was this little girl in the last one, Weasel they called her. She never talked, but she was an orphan just like me, so we kept to each other pretty much."

Arya kept listening while she poured the powder into the pipe.

"One day some T-Scouts attacked our town. You see, these robots are not like our fancy Mountain friend. They have no skin nor are they shaped like a man like a T-800. They are not trying to blend in like a hunter or an infiltrator model might. These are specifically designed to raid safety bunkers and towns for any useful material they can find. And that includes us people."

Arya almost let go of the closing cap when she was about to screw it on.

"Worst thing is, Scouts don't just try to kill you. They keep as many people alive as they can, to transport you to their base so they can experiment on you, rip your flesh off of you to use it on their humanoid models."

Gendry smiled grimly at Arya, who was looking at him horrified.

"I barely got away. But they had little Weasel, and I just couldn't let them take her away from me like they did with Mya. So we got both captured in the end."

Gendry took the finished bomb from her slightly trembling hands and put it together with the others, handing her another cap and tube.

"The first thing they do when you get to the base, is to get rid of all the elder and sickly people. Then they brand you like kettle, as if you were some kind of animal." He pulled the scarf up a little to show her the serial number she had felt before.

Arya found herself unable to finish pouring the powder, her hands trembling too much.

Gendry's voice was tight as he continued.

"They were about to brand Weasel, so I kicked and screamed trying to stop them, not caring if they killed me. I was already sentenced, and she was just a child. I couldn't let them do that to her."

Arya was near to tears, biting her lip hard and gripping the cup still in her hand with strength.

"Two of them were already holding me down, while another one raised its gun, ready to blow my head off." There were tears in Gendry's eyes too now, as if he was living that moment all over again. "Weasel started to scream desperately, that was the first time I even heard her voice," he smiled fleetingly at the memory, "but I screamed louder. I just wanted them to leave her alone."

Arya let go of the small cup to squeeze his hand tightly.

"And just when I thought that we were really done for, all the doors blew open as men of the Resistance barged in everywhere, taking out all the machines and saving everyone." 

Arya let out a relieved breath she didn't even know she was holding.

"Someone swung a hammer behind me, destroying one of the Scouts that were holding me down with one single blow. And when I looked back," Gendry smile exhilarated, "there was Jon Stark, Lord Commander of the Resistance, already swinging his hammer at the other Scout."

Gendry had always felt admiration for Jon, but what he was feeling now was something completely different. He didn't know if he could dare and call it fatherly love.

"He is so _brave_ , Arya. You can't even begin to imagine just how much." He told her proudly between tears. "I would die for him if need be."

Arya kissed Gendry fiercely, balancing the half filled pipe in her hand as best as she could.

They broke apart a little breathless, leaning his forehead against hers. 

"Fuck. I'm such a mess." he brushed his tears away flustered.

"Hey..." She used her free hand to make him look at her. "Someone told me it was ok to cry."

Gendry chuckled pulling her in for another kiss. 

He meant to keep it sweet, but there were just too many emotions running through him right now.

Arya pulled away when she almost let the tube fall. 

"Maybe I should finish this first."

Gendry nodded silently handing her the powder back.

He watched her as she very concentrated finished filling the tube, not noticing how the comforter had sliped slightly off her shoulder, revealing one of the many love-bites he had left on her body. 

He ran his fingers softly over her collarbone, loving how good it looked on her. He could feel the little goosebumps forming under his touch and heard her gasp as she finished cleaning the screw.

"I thought you said I had to do this _very_ careful." she teased, leaning into him.

"You're distracting." he mumbled out between kisses. "Hurry up."

She quickly rolled it softly on the table and put it with the others, shifting in his lap to kiss him better.

He was starting to slide the comforter off her slowly, when Nymeria suddenly jumped off the bed and growled intently at the wide window.

"What is it?" Arya asked worried, feeling him tense up all of a sudden.

Gendry gently disentangled himself from her, picking up his hammer from the table to peek out behind the curtains.

There was a very tall man wearing a long coat driving in through the entry, a gleam of metal reflecting off his face from behind sunglasses.

"You should go get dressed." he said as he started to pack everything back into the big duffel bag. "We have company."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Mountain has caught up with our favourite couple.  
> Will he catch them? Will they be able to escape?? Will they come to any harm???  
> This and much more on next episode of 'Come With Me If You Want To Live'. :P


	9. I'm Not Leaving You, Dammit!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Action, action and more action in this one. I worked real hard to make the best of it. I hope it lives up to your expectations!  
> I tried to juice it up a bit to show more of Arya's badassery, but I still feel like I copied some parts shamelessly from the movie..... -_-,   
> **WARNINGS: Again. All I know about guns and explosives, I learned from Hollywood...**

The Mountain parked his bike near the reception, a little farther away from their room. 

Gendry finished tucking the last pipe into Arya's smaller bag as she shrugged into her jacket, and threw the big duffel bag with the guns over his shoulder.

"You take Nymeria and wait in the back. I'll load the car and catch you there." Arya slung her bag on and took her shotgun Gendry handed her. Somehow it hadn't felt this heavy last time, when they weren't trapped. "Be careful, alright." he said very serious and she nodded. "And you'll have to be quiet until we get out of here." he added ruffling Nym's head.

They looked at each other without wanting to part even if it was just for a very little moment. He had done this many times before, but she could still see that, just like her, he was anxious and scared underneath his strong facade. 

She clutched the fur of his coat tight when he bend down to kiss her one last time fiercely.

"It's going to be fine." she tried to assure him when he pulled away, still holding her face. "Everything will be fine."

He nodded and finally let go of her. "Go."

He opened the door for them and Arya and Nymeria slipped out and made for the backgate quickly.

Gendry hurried to the car quietly, opening the door very carefully so not to make any sound, and threw the duffel bag onto the bag.

The M-800 was standing tall in front of the reception, only moving his head slowly from one side to the other, scanning the place for any indication for them.

Gendry saw the grumpy owner cast the Terminator that same look he gave them the night before and knew there would be trouble. 

_'Good.'_ he smiled to himself, trouble would help them gain a little more time to get out of there.

"Can I help you... _Buddy_." The owner spat the last word at the Mountain as he looked him up and down, unimpressed by his height.

Gendry smirked, loving to be right, and turned the key in the ignition.

His smile quickly faded when the engine only made a low choking sound and wouldn't turn on. "You've got to be kidding me!"

He turned the key again, pushing down a little on the gas pedal for help, but the result was the same, a low struggling sound and then it stalled again. 

" _Fuck!_ " He slapped the dashboard angrily and tried once more, the engine struggling a little harder but still not responding. "Come on, baby. Don't do this to me. We need you!"

The Terminator must have heard the ruckus and turned his head in Gendry's direction, ignoring the grumpy owner completely. He recognized him inside the car and raised the rifle hidden under his long coat to shoot him.

"By the fucking Seven! Turn the fuck on!" Gendry tried one last time desperately, pushing the pedal all the way down.

He'd never heard a sound as sweet as when the engine finally roared to life, just in time for him to reverse the car out of there at full speed as a bullet blew into the ground the same spot he had been not even a second ago.

Arya, who had been watching the scene horrifed and from a safe distance, only because she'd promised Gendry, saw the Terminator raise his rifle at him again as he was spinning the car around to speed towards her and Nym. She gripped her gun hard, lifting it to her shoulder to shoot that fucking cyborg down.

The stupid owner came out running, instead of laying low in his cabin, yelling about how he was going to call the fucking cops. "I knew you were trouble when you walked in!"

The Mountain just ignored him, so he threw some heavy object at his head angry. Arya couldn't make out what it was, but it made the machine _very_ angry. His face was so terrifying that when he turned to face the man, the owner fell flat on his ass.

"Get in, Arya!" Gendry screamed as he came up to her, her door flying open. She was about to climb in after Nymeria, but she heard the poor man scrambling on the floor calling for help. "Arya!" The owner might have been a total douche, but she couldn't just let him die because of them. "Arya! We need to get out of here!"

Arya raised her gun again determined, aiming for the Terminator's eyes just as Gendry had told her at the police station, hoping that she was not too much out of practice in her shooting.

She pulled the trigger and a loud pang rang as the gun fired and the bullet hit the Mountain straight in his face, shattering the glasses he was wearing and ripping an even bigger hole into the skin around his eye. Little sparks were flying off his metal skull and his red eye seemed to glow even brighter now in the dark.

The owner froze, looking between her and the giant in shock, nodding at her once grateful. She also was stunned at her own achievement, and stared on as the Terminator turned around furious, letting out a long, low, animalistic roar that made Arya's skin crawl.

"Arya!" Gendry's urgent voice came from the car again, Nymeria barking for her on the backside.

She saw the Mountain run for his bike and jumped inside, Gendry making the wheels screech as he revved them out of there.

He looked at her in awe, after he put some safe distance behind them. "Jon always said you were a good shot, but I never knew you were that good." he praised her smiling.

"Me neither." Arya breathed, feeling just as impressed as he was.

It had been years since the last time she went shooting. And yes, she was good at it, but it was very different to aim at a moving, living object than some unmoving board. She had always failed on purpose whenever she accompanied her father and uncle Robert on their hunting trips, feeling too sorry to kill any game, but she guessed it was just as easy as Robb and Jon always said, that it was just the same as shooting a bull's eye, you just had to let the bullet fly to where your eyes were set.

"Fuck!" Nymeria whined when the car suddenly shook as Gendry turned the wheel abruptly to dodge a shot behind them. "He's catching up to us!"

"Get down, Nym! Stay there!" Arya ordered, seeing that it was safer for her to stay on the floor, tucked in between the seat rows. 

She looked up behind to see the angry Terminator reload his gun and aim. She threw her arms up just in time to protect her face as another shot fired and hit the car this time, shattering the rear window.

"Stop blowing holes in my car, you asshole!" Arya cried back furious, hating how her car would be ruined before she even finished paying for it. She looked around the backside frantically for anything to throw at him. She saw the pipes in her open bag and grabbed one. "I think it's time to blow this motherfucker up!" she showed it to Gendry.

He looked around quickly, calculating if it was safe to pull that move with the straight road ahead and the distance between them and the bike. "Take the wheel! Keep her going as fast as she can!"

Arya quickly climbed on his lap, thanking the Gods for being so small and lithe for once; it helped her fit perfectly between Gendry and the wheel without loosing much control over the car. She pushed the pedal all the way down and watched as Gendry put a lighter to the fuse before climbing half-body out the window.

He held onto the door and quickly aimed and threw. But it went with too much strength and blew up some distance behind the Terminator without harming him. Arya didn't expect the wave of the explosion to hit the car with so much force and felt the wheel shake under her grip. 

Gendry got almost jostled off the car as it rocked, if it weren't for his strong grip on the window frame and Arya grabbing him by the hem of his jeans. 

" _Shit_ , Gendry! You alright?" she asked him worried as he climbed back in.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He twisted back to get another pipe and put the lighter to it again. "Just try to keep her as steady as you can."

He climbed back out, waiting a little longer to throw it this time. It exploded a little closer to the Terminator, but he kept his bike steady, barely swaying with the impact.

"We're going too fast for this!" Gendry yelled back to Arya. The bomb had to blow off directly on the M-800 to do him any real harm, and they couldn't spare any more tubes in trying.

Another shot rang from behind them and Arya heard Gendry scream in pain. "Gendry!!"

She helped him balance himself back inside and saw that he was bleeding heavily near his shoulder. This was not just a simple graze like last time, the bullet must have hit him deeper by all the blood seeping out of the wound. 

" _Fuck_...!" Gendry cursed as he struggled to get out of his jacket to stop the bleeding. "At least the fucker got the same arm..."

Arya wanted to help him, but another shot fired and hit the backside of the car somewhere, making it shake one more time.

"Keep your eyes on the road." Gendry winced, untying the knot on his wrist to bind his scarf tightly around the wound. "I'm alright, don't worry..."

Arya nodded and kept the pedal down at full speed. He was right, they needed to get out of there or they would all be done for. Another shot rang but missed as she turned the wheel when a curve came up. 

She looked through the rear mirror and saw that the Terminator was much closer to them than before. His motorbike was faster than their car. She needed to do something, or he would catch and kill them.

Gendry saw her bite her lip as he finished bandaging his arm. "What are you doing?" he asked alarmed at the determined look in her eyes.

"I'm going to throw that asshole off his bike." she answered darkly and dead set.

"Wha-?" He didn't even get to finish as Arya hit the brakes hard, making the car spin around and the Terminator collide against them, getting thrown off through the air before landing at a considerable distance ahead, his bike exploding as it came crashing down on the ground.

Everything would have been all well and good, if it wasn't that with the impact their own car also got flipped over, rolling over itself several times before coming to a halt turned upside down. 

Arya's head was throbbing, everything a blur before her, and Nymeria seemed to be whining someplace far away although she could feel her licking her bloodied temples. There was no sound of Gendry anywhere and she panicked, scrambling to unclasp her seat belt and falling onto the flipped roof, cutting herself on the broken glass.

"...Gen... Gendry... Where...?" she mumbled out scared, rubbing her hand against her face to get some of the blood out of her eyes and see something. She finally heard him groan in pain beside her and let out a relieved breath. "You alright?"

"Yeah... But I think I'm trapped here." Arya saw that his side of the car had suffered much more damage than hers, and his torso was squeezed between the roof and his seat. 

Nymeria helped her get out of the car. She had also suffered a small cut over her eye, Arya saw now, but otherwise she was fine. The dog let her lean on her, as she wobbled dizzy to the other side of the wreck, to help Gendry.

She pulled his door open with effort. He had not been wearing his seatbelt and that's why he got trapped when the car flipped. She should have warned him before pulling such a risky move, but it had worked, and it was too late to regret it now.

She put all her strenght into her shoulder and pushed against the car, the same as Gendry pushed from below his seat, to try and lift some of its weight off of him, but it barely moved. They tried again together, Arya pushing a little harder, moving only a few inches.

"It's too damaged, Arya..." She ignored him and tried again, but on her own it really wouldn't move. "You have to go before he gets up again."

Arya insisted, her legs starting to tremble with the effort.

"Arya... Take the hammer and run..." Gendry's weak voice came from the ground.

"I'm _not_ leaving you, dammit! So you better help me!" Arya cried angry at him. She was not willing to lose him, so he better man up now. "What would your dearest Jon say if he knew that you just let yourself die?"

She knew it was not fair to say that, he was already trying hard and was seriously injured besides, but she needed him to feel some of that Baratheon fury she knew he possessed and just _try_. It seemed to work too, and she finally heard him groan as he pushed again, harder, the car finally moving a little more than before. Just a few more inches and he would be free.

Nymeria started to growl again, and when Arya looked up alarmed, she saw the Terminator limping towards them from where his bike had blown up, his leg all wrong but still standing, and part of his face and chest had burned, but he obviously felt no pain, unlike her and Gendry, and just kept walking.

"Arya, you need to go! Now!"

Arya quickly called for Nymeria and made sure her leash was secured on her collar. "You need to help him now, alright." She quickly bound the leash under Gendry's arms and grabbed the nearest gun that laid scattered on the ground. It was much heavier than her shotgun, but she had no time to search for where it had landed now.

Arya aimed while Gendry cursed her for being so damn stubborn and kept pushing as Nymeria tried to pull him out of there. She fired a shot, but only hit the Terminator's shoulder. Her head was still pounding too much to aim correctly but she tried again, hitting a little nearer to where the heart supposedly was. The Mountain fired back, almost hitting her as she ducked behind one the wheels.

"Dammit, Arya! Go!" Gendry growled angry, pushing with more energy.

"Keep pushing! You're almost out!" she shouted back at him, reloading her gun and shaking her head a little to clear it.

She almost jumped in victory as she hit him full across the heart this time, but the machine only staggered backwards -pretty hard to be true- and then resumed limping forward again, roaring at her just as furious as Arya felt.

"Fucking _fuck_! Is this fucker inmortal or something?!" she cursed exasperated.

"The M-800 has his power engine better protected than the older models." Gendry groaned still struggling with his seat. At least, Arya saw, he had also kept going and he and Nym had already freed half of his torso. "If you manage to hit the same spot again, you should be able to destroy him!"

She lifted the gun again, fixing her eyes on the hole in his chest, and pulled the trigger. It just clicked awkwardly and nothing happened. She pulled again insistently, but still nothing. The trigger had gotten stuck, probably thanks to the previous crash they suffered.

She yelped as she ducked just in time as another bullet hit the car over her head.

"Arya!!" Gendry screamed panicked.

"I'm fine! I'm fine!" He sighed in relief as she slid back down to check on him and saw that she was truly unharmed, except from the injury over her brow. "You're almost out. Good girl." she praised Nymeria.

"Please, Arya." he tried to convince her once more. "You really need to go." He couldn't bare the thought that she would die here with him.

"I already told you I wouldn't leave you." She rummaged behind him, grabbing her bag and trying to get to her gun.

The car shook above her as another bullet hit it, and then she heard the Terminator roar again. She glimpsed up from underneath it and saw him throw the gun angrily into the trees. At least they had so much luck and he was also out of munition.

She quickly grabbed her gun and stuck the barrels under the seat, next to Gendry's still trapped chest, to work it as a lever. Thank the Gods, the Mountain had crippled his leg in the crash and was only managing to limp slowly towards them, else he would have already been upon them minutes ago. Arya still had some time to do this, before he got too close and could pick up one of their other guns that laid scattered on the ground.

"What are you doing?" Gendry asked confused at her calm demeanor.

"He's out of bullets and I'm getting you out of there." She secured the other end over her shoulder and pushed with all her might. "Pull, Nym! Pull!"

With one last big effort between the three of them, they finally managed to free him.

He reached for his hammer and felt a sharp pain in his side. "Argh! I think I've got a cracked rib..." Somehow it hadn't hurt that bad when he had been trapped.

"You need to get up." She grabbed her gun and bag from the ground and helped him up. "Can you stand?"

"Yeah... My legs aren't the problem..."

She slung his arm over her shoulder to help support him and noticed all the blood. _'He's loosing too much blood...'_

Nymeria started to bark behind them and Arya saw that the Terminator was too close to the guns now, already about to pick one up. She noticed a pack of munition close to them and grabbed it quickly, for fear that she would also run out of them like the Mountain had. She could feel by its weight that it was almost empty, but she would have to make do.

A shot rang and impacted just beside them. Arya quickly picked up Gendry again and dragged him along to run away. He was already breathing hard, weak due the blood loss. She needed to carry part of his weight to keep going, Nymeria was helping her, pulling on the leash he was holding. 

Arya looked back scared as they entered a sharp turn on the road, fearing the closeness of the Terminator. She needed to do something or he would easily shoot them down, here on open field and at the slow speed they were fleeing, with his crippled leg and all. 

She looked down the hill through the trees. She had seen the lights of a town near the river, before crashing the car. _'It must be The Twins.'_ They had covered enough distance for it to be so, but it was still too far away from them to consider it a getaway in Gendry's condition. She saw some light in the middle of the trees, though. It looked like some kind of warehouse, and she thought it wasn't too far away.

There was a sudden blast of light and the insistent honking of a huge horn before them, and Arya found herself frozen in place, staring in shock at the bright headlights of the monster that was coming at them at full speed. 

She only heard Gendry scream her name before Nymeria yanked them both out of the truck's path, and they landed painfully on the pavement on the side of the road.

There was a loud, crashing metal sound behind them, and when Arya whiped her head around to look at it, she saw sparks flying off from underneath the truck as it ran over the Terminator, dragging him some distance along the rough surface of the road, until it came to a halt.

Everything was quiet for a moment.

Arya didn't dare to breathe as she held onto Nymeria, and Gendry was just as shocked with awe as her, not believing their luck with this turn of events.

The driver climbed down in a hurry to check on the man laying face down on the ground. Arya and Gendry saw him trying to shake awake the unmoving body he had just run over, but the Terminator didn't stir a limb.

She looked back at him ecstatic. "We did it! He's dead! We did it, Gendry!"

Tears of joy were starting to fill her eyes but Gendry looked on skeptic. He had destoyed enough cyborgs while with the Resistance to know that you shouldn't trust an easy termination just like that. But even his lips quirked up after a while, and he grinned back at her in victory. 

Arya threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly. She couldn't believe that this was finally over. 

They only needed to get Gendry to a hospital now, and then find that damn Valyrian Steel factory and blow it up. But once those two minor things were done, they would finally be able to live their lives together and in peace.

Gendry buried his nose in her hair and sighed in relief, squeezing her close to him.

She heard Nymeria also make a small whimpering sound, but something was off with it.

A scream of horror sounded behind them.

The driver had turned the Terminator's body over and saw now the metalic skeleton underneath his ripped off skin. But that was not the worst of it. Arya noticed that he was frantically tugging at his leg, but it wouldn't come loose from wherever it had gotten stuck. She realized suddenly that it was the Mountain that was holding him in place. 

He was still alive! Both his red eyes glowing sinisterly back at her from his skinned skull.

He got up, lifting the man from the ground by his feet, and roared at him in rage, before tossing him furiously into the trees, like he was just some kind of weightless puppet.

Arya watched all this in horror, trembling. This nightmare seemed to have no end. What else was she supposed to do to get rid of that killer machine?

It was Gendry that brought her back from her stupor, nudging her side softly. 

She looked down and saw one of the tubes he was holding out for her. "You'll need to throw it. I can't aim with my injured arm."

She stared at it for a moment and then took it from him determined, handing him back Nymeria's leash in turn. "Hold her fast."

Arya got up and reached for the lighter in her pocket. 

She watched the orange flame flicker against the dawning light and put it to the fuse.

Arya threw with all her strength and smiled at how the pipe landed perfectly between the truck and the rear trailer. It exploded only seconds later into a massive fireball, engulfing the Terminator completely in its roaring flames.

"Burn in hell motherfucker."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more to go!


	10. The Twins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter before the epilogue! And I know Shannon and Veridissima are going to kill me after reading it....
> 
> **WARNING: Get a box of tissues ready... Seriously, I mean it.**

Arya helped Gendry walk to the warehouse. She had his arm slung around her shoulder to support part of his weight, as they stumbled almost blindly through the dark forest. Although the sun had started to rise, it was doing so very slowly, and the light coming through the trees was even less. They were lucky to have Nymeria to guide them, they would have probably gotten lost in the vast woods otherwise.

Arya hoped that there would be someone there to help them, Gendry was still bleeding from his wound and becoming weaker by the minute, not to mention that the winds were freezing and he had only her small jaket draped around his shoulders to keep him warm some.

When they finally got to the clearing, Arya sighed defeated at the locked fence and lack of workers. _'I should have expected it... It's Sunday after all._ She had almost forgotten what day of the week it was, these last few days seeming to blur together.

There was a dirty sign hanging on the fence and Arya used her hand to cleaned it a little and read what it said. _'BaratheonCorp Development. It can't be...'_ She looked up at the big building, not believing their luck.

She checked if the fence was electrified first and the leaned Gendry against it. She took his hammer and hooked the spiked end through the lock to beak it, and helped him inside.

Arya thought it was odd that there was no alarm going of or anything. Truth was, the warehouse looked a bit deserted, even for a Sunday, considering this was supposed to be one of Cersei and Tywin Lannister's 'Top Secret' labeled factories. _'Maybe it's not this one after all...'_

"What is it?" Gendry asked weakly seeing her frown.

"Nothing." she lied. "I just hoped there would be people here to help us." She didn't want to needlessly preoccupy him in his state, they would have all the time in the world to worry about that later.

She used the hammer again to break in the main door, and turned the lights on. At least, the place didn't look so abandoned on the inside; the machinery all tidy and in place and cleaned neatly, but still, everything looked too calm for Arya's taste.

They climbed up the stairs onto the second floor where the office space was. She left Gendry on the comfortable wheeled leather chair as she went to rummage through the other rooms for a first aid kit. 

She came back only a moment later with a small case and a bowl with water, and sat down to take care of his injury. She cleaned it with a rag before disinfecting it, she apologized as Gendry winced at the sting. The wound didn't bleed that much now, but it was pretty deep and would probably need stitches. Arya fixed it closed for now as best as she could with only the bandaid and tape.

She took another gauze to disinfect Nymeria's cut, but the dog ran away before Arya could even get near her, she didn't want anything to to with the smelly thing. 

"Nymeria, come back!" but she didn't listen, "Coward..."

"What about you?" Gendry asked taking one of her wrists to look at the many cuts on her arms.

"It's nothing." She pulled her sleeves down to hide them, she didn't want him to worry about a few stupid cuts when he was the one who was heavily injured.

It was her turn to wince when he insisted and took the wet rag to clean the dried blood on her temple. She had almost forgotten about it, too worried about him to care.

She watched him while he cleaned her brow carefully. He had that stubborn look on his face that made Arya smile. She took the rag from him and kissed his lips softly. He was a little surprised but leaned in and held her face with his good arm.

She realized then just how weak he was, his lips dry and with a slight tremor, and not as warm as they should be. _'He needs to see a doctor...'_

Arya looked up and saw a telephone on the main desk, she picked it up and dialed Renly's number for help. But something was wrong.

"The line is dead." She looked up at Gendry surprised.

"Maybe the wires got damaged with the explosion?" he said, just as confused.

But the electricity was still running, so...

As soon as Arya thought that, the lights started to go out one by one, leaving them all alone in the dark of the factory, with only the dim light of the dawn coming in through the windows.

She heard Nymeria bark insistently outside, and felt a cold chill run down her back. 

She couldn't believe that this was starting all over again.

Gendry immediately grabbed his hammer beside him. "I'll go see what's going on."

"No, you won't." she quickly stopped him when she saw him sway on his feet slightly as he got up. "You're too weak to do anything on your own. I'll come with."

He wanted to protest, but she had already grabbed her gun and was walking toward the door.

Gendry heard a metallic clank and glimpsed movement from the corner of his eye just when she was about to grab the door knob.

"Arya!" he hissed quickly to warn her, as he saw the dark figure on the other side of the opaque glass of the office.

Arya froze when she looked up, seeing it too. 

This silhouette didn't look anything human-like at all anymore. She could clearly see the defined shape of a skull and all the wires and metallic structures outlined against the glass.

Gendry had only whispered, but the Terminator must have heard him through the thin walls. He also stopped mid-track and turned his head toward the room they were in. Arya backed away from the door slowly, trying to make no sound. The cyborg tilted its head sideways, calculating, the two red spots glowing through the glass.

Gendry knew they were trapped. That door was the only exit out of this room, and now they couldn't use it because the M-800 was just on the other side. He looked around to see if there was anything he could use to defend themselves; there was still Arya's bag, with the explosives, lying on the desk. He grabbed one for himself and handed her the other two.

"No matter what, don't loose them. They are our last resort."

The Terminator's eyes fixed on them when Gendry spoke. It opened its jaw and let out a chilling, shrill screech and broke through the thin wall and glass, not bothering to use the door. 

Arya's eyes widened in horror as she saw the half-burned metal skeleton before her; without any skin nor flesh nor clothes to hide the valyrian steel, dark and shining, just like Gendry's hammer.

Gendry pushed Arya behind him protectively and gripped his hammer tighter. She had to cover her ears as it screeched again, louder and angrier.

"As soon as he attacks, you run for the door. I'll distract him." Gendry commanded without looking at her.

"What? No! I won't leave you!" If she left him, he would die.

"Yes you will!!" he spat back furious. "There is no other way out and you are the only one who matters here!"

She had no chance to argue back as the Terminator attacked them and Gendry shoved her hard toward the exit. 

Arya tripped with something, caught unprepared, and toppled down to the ground.

She saw Gendry block blow after blow as best as he could, it was obvious he was a good fighter or else he wouldn't have managed to endure this long, but he was too tired and weak to stand a chance against the unstoppable machine.

"Arya! Get out!!" Gendry blocked a high blow with the handle of the hammer, but received another near his hurt rib and groaned in pain.

She looked down and saw what she had tripped with; her gun, lying on the ground beside her. Gendry had managed to inverse their position during the fight, and was now closer to the hole the cyborg had ripped into the wall, and this one, near the other side of the room. She quickly pushed the pipes Gendry gave her into her pants, grabbed the shotgun and scrambled up to her feet.

"What are you doing?! Get out, dammit!!"

She lifted the gun to her shoulder and aimed. They were moving too much, and her head was still pounding something fierce, but if she didn't do this Gendry would die. She waited anxiously for a clear shot, so not to accidentaly hit Gendry too. Unfortunately for him, it took another blow to his ribcage and him to double over in pain, for her to get that clear shot and fire.

The bullet hit the Terminator straight in the middle of its chest and shoved it backwards, away from Gendry kneeling on the floor. It screeched furiously, but Arya tried not to flinch this time and fired another shot, pushing him farther away from them. He stumbled on the wheeled leather chair and fell on it, rolling even farther away. 

She managed to get to Gendry and helped him up. 

"What are you doing... you stupid, sweet girl..." he tried to scold her but failed miserably. He was too hurt to really fight her.

"You can't really expect me to leave you..." she answered softly, slinging his arm back around her shoulders. She didn't mind the 'stupid', she knew he meant it in his own endearing way.

She had almost managed to drag him through the hole, when the Terminator screeched again as it finally succeeded to get up from the troublesome chair. She quickly lifted her gun to shoot him once more, but she was out of bullets. She looked up and saw the pack of munition behind the cyborg on the desk. _'Shit!'_ She had completely forgotten to load the gun when they got here, believing that they were already safe.

She looked between the furious machine, limping already in their direction, and a very weak Gendry, almost out of the room. She would _not_ let him die. She _wouldn't_! She quickly helped him to the railing outside and stepped back into the room to face the killer machine.

This time when it screeched, she roared right back defiantly, taking her gun by the barrels and swinging it with all her might. She whacked it hard across the skull, making it stagger backwards with the blow. The cyborg tripped with the desk this time, falling backwards and breaking through it and the wall behind it into the next room.

She rushed to pick Gendry up again and dragged him towards the stairs. He was so _heavy_ , clutching his side in pain and barely able to walk, she almost couldn't keep him up straight.

"Come on Gendry! _Come on!_ "

"Just leave me here..." he said weakly, but Arya only pulled harder. She would carry him down all these stairs all on her own if she had to.

A loud crash sounded just behind them and they both toppled over as she looked back in fear to see the Terminator step through a new hole it had just broken into the office-wall. It screeched again, livid, and Arya scrambled up the railing to stand and help Gendry up, but he wouldn't move.

"Come on, Gendry! _Please!_ " she cried desperately.

"I can't..." he groaned defeated, "Just go... Live..."

She looked back to the stairs just behind them and the Terminator now closer than ever. They only needed _so little_ to get away. 

She pulled at his arm once more, hard, in one last attempt to get him up, her tired limbs trembling with the effort. "Please, Gendry! _Please!_ Get up! "

He yanked his arm away with what little strength he had left. "Stop being so stubborn! You can't safe us both!"

"Yes, I can!" she cried between tears, the Terminator almost upon them. "I'm not letting you die! I've already lost too much people I love!"

So many emotions crossed his face in only one instant: pain, sorrow, guilt, sympathy; but most of all love and affection.

Arya looked on confused as Gendry finally spoke with utmost regret. "I'm so sorry..."

He shoved her backwards and she suddenly felt the ground give out under her. She forced herself into a ball to protect herself, as she rolled down the stairs painfully.

Gendry felt the M-800 grab his shirt and lift him up with ease. He was eye to eye with the Terminator now, and with one last effort he punched his lighted pipe into the cyborg's chest. It immediately let go of him to try and pull the explosive back out, but it was stuck between the machine's many gears.

Gendry crawled backwards to the top of the stairs with his last strength, and let himself tumble down the steps carelessly before the pipe exploded.

Arya yelped and held her arms over her face as the hundreds of pieces of the Terminator fell all around them.

She opened her eyes after a while, when the smoke cleared. She could barely hear Nymeria still barking outside over the loud roaring in her ears. She looked around, dizzy, and saw Gendry lying a few feet farther away from her. He barely stirred, but she could see he was still breathing.

She tried to go to him, but there was a sharp pain throbbing in her upper thigh when she made to move. There was a big piece of glass piercing through her flesh. She tried to pull it out, but it _hurt_. She grimaced as she explored the deep wound around it; she would have to get it out if she wanted to move.

She took a deep breath and groaned as she pulled again, her fingers trembling, trying to keep as steady as she could to prevent the glass from doing any more damage to her leg. 

It took her some time, and much pain, but she finally gasped in relief when she had it out. Arya just laid there for a moment, exhausted, letting herself catch her breath.

There was a metallic clank somewhere below her legs, she tilted her head towards it and saw one glowing red eye staring back at her from a half destroyed metal skull.

She quickly scrambled away from the Terminator's severed torso in panic, trying hard to ignore just how much her leg hurt.

The cyborg crawled after her. One of its arms had suffered great damage during the explosion, she could see, there were sparks flying off its joint, and it moved clumsier and slower than the other. But even with that disadvantage, it still moved faster than Arya. 

She was about to reach Gendry's hammer laying only a few more inches away from her, but the machine grabbed one of her ankles first. Arya tried to kick it off desperately, but it squeezed its metal hand right into her wounded thigh and she screamed in pain.

Nymeria barked more urgently outside, and Arya stretched her arm out as far as possible to try and get a hold of the hammer, but she was barely managing to graze it with her fingertips and the Terminator had begun to climb over her .

She tried even harder to fight it off, thrashing wildly underneath it, in hopes to throw it off her, but it was just too strong. 

She heard some crystal crash in the distance, just as the cyborg grabbed her by the throat with its bad arm and started to squeeze down hard to choke her. Her vision started to blur as she gasped for air desperately, punching the machine's skull uselessly.

There was a sudden pull and the Terminator's grip on her eased up a little, letting new air breathe into Arya's lungs. It was Nymeria, who had managed to break through a window, and was now biting down on the Terminator's other arm, pulling at it madly for the machine to let go of her human.

Arya saw how the sparks flying off the cyborg's joint intensified with each tug Nymeria gave it. She quickly twisted her body and started to kick the Terminator with her good leg as effectively as she could. 

She kept on kicking and hitting and shoving whatever part of it she could reach, trying to rip off the arm choking her from the rest of its torso.

Arya kicked one last time with all her might, at the same time as Nymeria pulled on the other arm, and it finally broke off.

She hit her head hard against the ground when it suddenly came free, but she didn't care; the metallic hand gripping her throat went instantly limp, and Arya coughed as air started to fill her lungs anew.

She looked up and saw Nymeria still fighting with the Terminator. It was practically harmless now with only one arm left, twisting its body on the floor awkwardly as it tried to grab for Nymeria unsuccessfully, screeching at the dog as she dodged all its blows effortlessly.

Arya grabbed the hammer and struggled to get up. She limped calmly toward them, relishing in the feeling of the hammer's weight in her hand.

"Nymeria, stop."

Nym let go and stepped away obediently, and the Terminator scrabbled around to face her. Arya couldn't help but think how pathetic this previously lethal killer machine was now; half its body burned and cracked, with no legs and only its one arm to wriggle around clumsily, and nothing else left for it to do but screech at her furiously for its own uselessness.

Arya lifted the hammer high and stared straight into the Terminator's menacing red eye. "This is for all the people you and your kind have killed." She brought the hammer down, hard, and heard the machine's skull crack wider. 

 

It was still moving and she lifted the hammer again. "This is for those two innocent girls you killed." She swung another blow, making the cyborg screech louder. "For tough Yoren and the loyal Old Bear." It tried to scramble away and she swung again. "For silly Jeyne and creepy Ramsay." Another blow. "For all those people of the future." Half its skull shattered, but its eye was still glowing. "For Jon and Mya and all the rest." It suddendly went limp and its eye barely glowed, flickering very faintly. 

Arya was breathing hard and turned the hammer in her hold. "And this, is for Gendry and for me." She brought it down once more, spiked end first, and burried it into the Terminator's eye.

Arya dropped to the ground when it was over, bending over herself crying. Nymeria trotted to her side and licked her face to comfort her. She burried her face into Nym's fur and held on to her, trembling. 

She dragged herself to where the remainders of the cyborg were and pulled out the hammer to sever the wires from the power engine in its chest. She turned the shattered skull over next, and ripped out the main chip with the C-Net software from behind its eyes.

She held the little thing up between her thumb and index finger, not believing how something so small could cause so much destruction.

She laid it on the ground and smashed the hammer over it to destroy it for good.

It was finally over, this time for sure.

Gendry groaned in pain where he was laying and Arya hurried to him, limping. She dropped down, tired, and lifted his head into her lap.

"...Arya..." he called weakly, trying to find one of her hands with his own. "...Is he dead?" 

"Yes." Arya nodded, pushing the hair out of his hurt face and taking his searching hand. "Yes. In the end it was me who terminated the motherfucker." she tried to jape.

Gendry chuckled painfully and closed his eyes in relief. "...We have to blow this place up..."

He was too weak and she was too hurt to move him on her own, but with Nymeria's help, and much effort, they managed to carry him outside. She left him at a safe distance near the trees and went back inside, leaving him under Nym's care.

She placed each of the pipes beside the main pillars of the building and looked for any inflamable or volatile substance in the storage room. She found a tank of fuel and splashed the liquid all over the warehouse, and then traced a line outside to ignite it from afar. She put her lighter to it and watched the fire spread.

She limped back to Gendry and saw that he had fallen asleep again.

"Gendry, wake up." She cradled his head carefully so he could look at the burning warehouse. "You're going to miss all the fireworks."

He opened his eyes just in time as one of the pipes detonated and the fire intensified.

"It looks beautiful..." he breathed softly.

"It does, indeed." She had never thought that watching a building burn to ashes could be as satisfying as with this BaratheonCorp factory now.

There was a big boom that triggered the other pipe to explode too, and all the windows shattered. Arya had to shade her eyes from the bright flames licking the building hungrily.

She felt Gendry's head loll in her lap and she saw he had closed his eyes once more. 

"Gendry? Gendry." She had to slap him lightly to wake him. "Gendry, wake up. You have to stay awake."

He struggled to keep them open, but it was really hard. "'M so tired..."

"I know you are." She shifted his position in her lap, trying to keep him upright. "But you have to try and stay awake, alright?"

He nodded but his eyelids were dropping closed again. 

"Dammit, Gendry!" She slapped him again a little more forceful and shook his shoulders. "You have to hang on a little more! Help will be here soon." There just had to be with all this fire.

The warehouse had been burning for a while now and was already starting to fall apart. The firefighters and police would be here any minute now. They just _had_ to. But Gendry was just too weak to keep his eyes open.

" _Fuck_ , Gendry!" she shook him angry and crying. "Just hold on a little more! _Please_."

He opened them weakly at her desperate voice, it took him great effort to do it.

"Don't cry..." he rasped out seeing the tears running down her face. "I don't want you to be sad anymore." He wiped the wetness from her cheeks and tried to smile for her. "You will find your brother and reunite with your sister. You'll see. I'm sure Nymeria will take good care of you meanwhile."

The dog whined beside them and Arya shook her head not wanting to hear any more of this. This sounded too much like a goodbye and she was _not_ willing to let him go yet.

"I knew this would happen sooner or later..." he confessed sadly. "There was a reason Jon never talked much about his father..." There were tears in his eyes too now. "I just wish I had had a little more time. To love you properly, like you deserve."

"Please, don't, Gendry." Arya begged holding him closer.

"Your have such beautiful eyes." He wiped away the new tears flowing from them. "They are the same grey as those snowy mountains in the horizon."

She smiled a little, her father used to say the same. "Those are the mountains of the North, where I am from."

Gendry smiled too with his last strength. "I wish I could go see them with you..."

"You will." Arya insisted hopefully. "You just have to hold on a little longer."

"It's too late, Arya..." he shook his head sadly. "Promise me you'll be strong. For our Jon's sake."

"No, Gendry. Don't. _Please_."

He caressed her wet cheek softly, all the way to the corner of her lips. "Will you kiss me one last time?"

Arya nodded crying, and brought his face closer to hers, entwining her fingers softly through his hair.

She poured all her feelings into that one kiss, to tell him just how much he meant to her.

He went limp in her arms while she kissed him, and Arya started to sob uncontrollably holding on to his dead body.

No ambulance, nor firefighters, nor police ever came, but Arya still wouldn't let go of Gendry's body. Not even when Renly finally found them. Nymeria wouldn't even let him near them, growling protectively.

Arya only gave him up after Loras arrived with Sansa. 

Her sister shot out of the car and ran to her to hold her tightly as she continued to cry, stroking her hair softly, and whispering comforting words, as if she were a lost little girl.

"I'm so sorry, Arya. So sorry. " she kept repeating as she wept with her little sister.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sooooooo sorry.... :'( And believe me when I say that I suffered just as much writing this as you reading it.
> 
> I feel so bad for giving you guys hope with how last chapter ended, but I have to admit, I did that on purpose. This way you can choose to ignore this tragic ending and pretend the previous one was the final chapter.
> 
> I know I said a few times Gendry didn't have to die, but I never said he _wouldn't_. And this just had to be done. I wish they could have lived happily ever after, but that is just not how the story goes (I'm a masochyst, I know -_-,). I admit that I love the original Terminator story just because of that. All them tragic!FEELS!
> 
> There will be an epilogue ( ~~if you guys still want too read it that is...~~ )


	11. Predestination Paradox (Epilogue)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here it is: The Big Ending.
> 
> It turned out longer than I thought in the end. :)
> 
> **WARNINGS: Happy!Tears and domestic fluff? ahead**

_My dearest Gendry,_

_It's been five years now since we lost you, and I still miss you_ so _much..._

_Many good things happened this last year, so many it would be impossible to write them all down on this little paper, so I'm going to skip all the minor events and tell you about the most outstanding ones._

_The most important one is that we finally found my brother Jon! This summer has been especially warm and even the heaviest snows in the north have started to melt, and we were finally able to go safely beyond the Wall._

_Turns out Jon had been '_ stolen _' by some red-headed wildling girl he had met a few years ago. He had been living with her and her people happily in some remote town in the Always Winter lands. They have no electricity, nor internet, nor telephone, nor any kind of post service whatsoever down there; that's why he went MIA and never send a word. Can you believe it?_

_He was so sad when he learned about Robb... They had always been close..._

_But what surprised him most, I believe, was to see both his younger sisters having grown up and become moms. I guess it was easier for him with Sansa; she had always wanted to marry young and have kids. But things were very different with me; I've always preferred to be the wild kid, rather than being responsible for one. It's something that is completely alien to him; to see his little sister carrying her own little boy on her hips._

_I know it's difficult for him to understand sometimes, how I could have willingly chosen to become a single mom, especially knowing how little time we spend together -he never says anything about it, but I can see it in the way he looks at me sometimes- but then he sees me playing with little Jon, and I can almost hear his heart burst with joy at how happy we are._

_He and his wife have decided to move in with us here in Winterfell. Sansa is already nagging at them to give her another nephew to pamper, "The more, the merrier" she says. Little Rosemarie is barely one, but she and Willas are already trying for another babe._

_Their boys have made it into the soccer team this year, and little Jon keeps complaining about how much he also wants to go to stupid school to play with them. And don't even bother telling him that he is too young for that, he won't listen to you anyway, that stubborn boy._

_He is so beautiful, Gendry... I thank the Gods everyday for you to have given me this child. I only regret that you could never hold him in your arms, even if only once, and feel all the wonderful things I felt when I held him for the first time, the day he was born._

_He is so smart and drags Nymeria into all kinds of mischief. He is already the tallest one amongst the boys his age and keeps growing even taller each day._

_He feels sad sometimes to be the only boy around here who has no papa, but he knows you never had a choice in that and that you loved him dearly. And he recovers quickly too, as soon his uncle Jon grabs him and throws him through the air giggling. He knows it's not the same, but for him Jon is like a father, and I know Jon loves him like a son._

_I've been recording these tapes for him -the same as I write these letters for you- where I tell him about you, and the hardships we went through together, so he will always know how much we loved each other, and how much you wanted to be here for us. I know he is too young to understand all that now, but I hope he will come to cherish them when he grows up._

_Myrcella has given birth to her boy a few weeks ago. Both of them, mother and child, are strong and healthy. I guess you must already know she named him after you..._

_She and Renly keep calling me to go visit them sometime soon, but I haven't been able to force myself to do it. It would be to cruel for me to go to Storm's End and pretend that that babe wasn't you, or worse, pretend that he was. I hope you can forgive me for it..._

_I miss you so much, my love... In a way I never knew was possible. Sometimes I look at our Jon and barely manage not to weep with how much he looks like you._

_But I promised you that I would be strong, and that's what I'm going to do; because I am a Stark, and wolves are strong and don't cry._

_Yours forever,_

_Arya Lyanna Stark_

\--------

Arya read the letter one last time before folding it neatly and putting it inside the pretty envelope.

"Are you finished with your prayers?"

She wiped one stray tear from her cheek and saw her brother Jon smiling at her. "Almost."

She put the closed envelope into the beautifully painted bowl of clay on the ground before her, and lighted the match to burn it. She watched the flames dance all over the paper softly, until there were only the ashes left.

She took the now warm bowl and buried them carefully between the roots of the heart tree, like she had done with all the other letters before this one, and put the adorned bowl back in its place over the dug up soil.

She turned around smiling and took her brother's hand to help her up.

"You ok?" he asked softly seeing her puffy eyes.

"Yeah... Just the usual."

Jon gave her a warm hug and ruffled her head lightly. "I know you think I don't understand the way you feel about this man, and truth is, I really don't sometimes. Ygritte always likes to go on about how I know nothing." Arya chuckled with him. "But, I do know that you must have loved him deeply, and still do, for you to give him a son and bury him in this sacred place of our ancestors."

"I know you do..." Arya took his hand and led him to one of the stumps to sit down. "I wish you could have met him. I know you would have liked each other."

"I already like him." Jon said stubbornly, still holding her hand. "He saved my little sister's live. And I can't thank him enough for that."

"Gendry saved me in so much more ways than just my live." she said softly, "You don't know how things were around here before. They were bad for me. _Real_ bad..."

"And I'm so sorry for it." Jon frowned deeply. They had had this conversation enough times already, but he still felt guilty for leaving his sisters all alone to fend for themselves. "If I had only known-"

"I'm not blaming you, Jon." Arya squeezed his hand comfortingly. "It's not your fault things kept going south up here while you were enjoying your life with your wildling bride beyond the Wall."

"Speaking of wildlings." Jon grinned suddenly and winked an eye at her in complicity. "Maybe I should warn you that we're about to get attacked by one."

She turned to see a small black-haired boy trotting at them at full speed on his furry horse, and dragging his heavy warhammer along. They crashed right into Jon and toppled over on the ground laughing.

Nymeria got up and went to Arya's side to get her head rubbed. She was panting heavily from having played all morning, and collapsed at Arya's feet tiredly. The poor dog loved her son dearly, but she was getting too old to keep up with his wildness.

"Momma, momma!!" Arya managed to catch him just in time as he threw himself at her giggling. "Look! Auntie Ygritte painted my face like one of those fearsome warriors of the free folk!"

"You look very scary, indeed." she laughed as she seated him on her lap, not caring about the rest of the mud splatters all over his clothes that were obviously not her sister-in-law's doing. "You shouldn't play with that hammer, though. It's not a play thing."

"I know, momma..." he said sheepish, looking at her with blue puppy-dog eyes. "I just wanted to hold it some, is all."

How could she deny him anything, when he was looking at her with his father's beautiful eyes. 

"But you'll have to put it back before we eat, or Sansa will ban us from Winterfell forever." Little Jon grinned from ear to ear. "And make sure you don't cripple any of your cousins with it. You have poor Ghost already tormented enough with it."

The bigger Jon laughed when his nephew simply snorted and straightened himself on her lap proudly. "Ol' Ghost is only being grumpy 'cause he can't keep up with Nymmie and me. Right, my fearsome war pony?"

Nymeria barked up at him in agreement, wiggling her tail happily.

"And were did you loot this, _oh fearsome warlord_?" Jon asked, holding up a small camera the little Jon had brought with him.

"Auntie Sansa says you should take a picture of momma being all pretty in her flower dress."

Arya groaned and looked at where her sister and the others where, near the house. 

Sansa waved at her smiling, balancing her little girl on her hips, as she turned back to supervise her sons, who were helping Jeyne set the big garden table, while Ygritte and Willas continued to argue about what recipe was best for the chicken to grill on the barbecue. It was a hot summer day and Sansa had insisted they all have a big barbecue this weekend, and eat all together outside in the flowery garden, like the big happy family they were.

She had especially insisted Arya wear one of those pretty summer dresses she had bought for her. Arya had wanted to protest at first, and say that she _no way_ was willing to look like one of those stupid shiny flowers her sister had planted all over the gardens, but then she realized she had seen the beautiful bright dress somewhere before, and even let Sansa plait her hair into one of those complicated braids she liked so much, but was too clumsy to elaborate on her own.

"Alright. I'll do it." Arya agreed half-heartedly. "But only if you are willing to take it with me."

The boy squirmed in her lap as she started to tickle him all over, making him giggle madly.

"If you guys don't stop that, the picture will turn out all blurry." Jon protested from from where he was sitting.

Arya stopped and let her still giggling boy catch his breath. When little Jon sat upright in her lap again, she felt him tug on her braid softly, to look at him.

"Auntie Sansa said you looked very pretty in that dress," he started shyly, still playing with her braid, "but I think you look very pretty all the time, momma. You're the pretties mommie forever!"

Arya smiled at him dearly, and pressed a big kiss over his black mop of hair, snuggling him closer to give him a big, fat hug that he returned right back.

"All done." Jon got up from his spot. "I'll go feed the dogs and take this hammer back inside, while you two finish hugging each other."

Arya let go of her boy and sniffled lightly as she drew back to wipe away another stray tear.

"Are you crying, momma?" Jon asked worried.

"Only because I love you so much." Arya tried to smile. "What do you say we go help the others finish cooking?"

Jon scrunched his nose up at that. "I don't think they'll let you anywhere near the grill."

"Hey! I'm not _that_ bad anymore." she protested as they got up from the stump. "I'll have you know, your father really liked my chicken salad sandwiches."

Jon just shrugged and took his mother's hand. "I never said _I_ was the one who didn't like your cooking. Only that it's too spicy."

They continued to walk to the house in silence, hand in hand.

"Momma?" Jon asked suddenly.

"Yes, pumpkin?"

"When I learn to write proper in school, I'm gonna write pretty letters for papa, just like you do."

Arya felt a lump form in her throat, and tried to keep her voice as even as she could. "And what will you write him, my love?" 

"That one day I'll grow big and strong, just like him." Jon said excitedly. "And that I will learn to fight with his hammer just as well as he did, and protect you from all the bad guys."

Arya felt her heart shatter a little at that. "I bet he would be very proud of that..."

She knew Gendry would, but she only wished Jon would never find himself in the real need to use that valyrian steel hammer, and know the terrors that two glowing red eyes could bring with them.

"He would be very proud, indeed, my love."

 

**THE END**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it! I really hope you all enjoyed it! :)
> 
> I never thought I would be able to write something like this, and I must say I'm really satisfied how it turned out :)
> 
> I want to thank all of you for putting up with me and liking and commenting my story! Especially Veridissima and Shannon :D Your kind comments have kept my inspiration going all this time, and I hope this epilogue makes up for killing off Gendry!
> 
> Anyways,  
> THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR READING!!!  
> AND A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OF YOU! ;)

**Author's Note:**

> For meli_fan who mentioned on tumblr how cool it would be to have a AxG Terminator!AU.  
> I knew then I was so fucked.... 
> 
> Special Thanks to PuzzledHats, because she's my sci-fi hero and without her stories I wouldn't even dare write this


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